Fox News host Bret Baier was caught in an awkward on-air moment after realising his microphone was still recording during midterm election coverage. The incident occurred as he handed over to reporter Garrett Tenney for an update on the Senate race, during which Tenney noted that Michigan, an area long dominated by Republicans, had shifted and that many locals had been seen putting up yard signs supporting Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed.
Assuming he was off air, Baier called out to producers behind the scenes. "Can we do a spin on the races that… Oh, I'm sorry. I guess we're on TV now," he said as the camera returned to the studio.
Viewer backlash on social media
Following the error, viewers took to X to respond. One wrote: "Watched this live. Breaking down in real time, then just fumbling his glasses lmao." Another added: "Bookmarking so I can replay whenever someone says Fox is a credible news organisation."
A third asked: "What does that even mean? Was he asking if they can spin the news to make the Republicans look good???" A fourth mused: "And Fox News was supposed to be the no-spin zone when it started." A fifth quipped: "What a colossal f**k up."
Trump criticises Fox News
Fox News, like many other networks, has been covering the midterm elections in the US. With Donald Trump and the Republicans losing control of the House of Representatives and the Senate on Wednesday morning (4 November), the president suggested that if he had been on the ballot, the Democrats would not have been so successful.
Posting on Truth Social, Trump wrote: "I wasn't on the ballot, and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE! Thank you for your attention to this matter."
The 80-year-old has also slammed Fox News, accusing the network of focusing too much on the Democrats. In a long rant, he fumed: "Fox News Ratings are way down (27%!) because they're spending too much time covering the Trump Deranged Dumocrats! All those people who used to watch Fox and no longer do get it."
He continued: "It's them, not me — my numbers are better than they have ever been. The new CNN Poll stated that TRUMP is at 99% among Republicans and, among Republican presidents, TRUMP is at 53%, compared to Ronald Reagan at 18% and Abraham Lincoln at 8%. Fox knows this, and so does everyone else! Also, why is Fox Corp. spending so much money donating to the Worst of the Worst, including Hakeem Jeffries, Jamie Raskin, Ted Lieu, Pete Aguilar, the California Dumocratic Party, the Dumocratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the Dumocratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the Congressional Black Caucus PAC, the CHC Bold PAC, and the New Dumocrat Coalition Action Fund, among others?"
Trump concluded: "No wonder Fox News ratings are collapsing, and they're going to go down a lot further. They're way down, not because of me, but because they are AGAINST me! This happened once before, and Fox almost collapsed. It's happening again!"
