WATCH: Fox News Prime-Time Hosts Destroy Pete Buttigieg Night After His Town Hall

The prime-time hosts of Fox News followed the playbook of President Donald Trump in responding to criticism from Democratic hopeful Pete Buttigieg during his Sunday night town hall on their network: hit back ten times as hard.

In his highly publicized town hall with anchor Chris Wallace, the South Bend, Indiana mayor and 2020 candidate noted that there was controversy about him even coming on Fox News at all.

“I get where that’s coming from especially when you see what goes on with some opinion hosts on this network,” Buttigieg told Wallace. “I mean when you’ve got Tucker Carlson saying that immigrants make America dirty. When you’ve got Laura Ingraham comparing detention centers with children in cages to summer camps.”

The Fox News opinion hosts singled out by Buttigieg did not hold back in response.

For his part, 8 p.m. host Tucker Carlson dedicated the opening of his show to Buttigieg’s rival, New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. But he eventually turned to Mayor Pete, deriding him as a “slippery demagogue” in a segment on his abortion comments. Next up, Sean Hannity went much deeper, but almost entirely focused on his disagreements with Buttigieg’s policy — though he also fairly hit the Democrat’s record as South Bend mayor, based on a report on his absences from the city:

“And by the way, Mr. Pete, what record do you have?” Hannity asked. “Because a new report shows you’re hardly ever the mayor of South Bend. Who’s running the city while you’re out raising money in LA and New York with all your rich friends who want you to be president, supposedly?”

But it was Ingraham who went a full 12 rounds on Buttigieg, dedicating seven minutes of her broadcast to mocking what she described as his phony sanctimony.

“Beyond his Boy Scout demeanor and Mayor Pete shtick, Buttigieg is but another creation of a media apparatus desperate to oust Trump,” Ingraham said. “And as I’m sure you saw again and again and on the other networks, he showed this unattractive strain last night. But it is hard to patronize and condescend your way to win the nomination. You can’t do it. You have to treat the people like they deserve to be treated.”

Critics may say that she did not cover herself in glory in the mean-spirited and personal attacks on the Democratic presidential hopeful, who she displayed with a Pope’s hat superimposed on his head.

The full-scale attack set up an interesting dynamic worth keeping in mind for the rest of the 2020 field: appearing for a Fox News town hall is good for name recognition and allows you to reach a broad audience. You will also be treated fairly by the network’s anchors. But you will get destroyed for the next few nights by Fox’s highly-rated prime-time stars.

Watch above via Fox News.

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