'Not a third-rate reporter': Bret Baier defends Jonathan Karl after spat with Trump

Fox News anchor Bret Baier sided with ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl in his feud with President Trump.

Karl and Trump have been trading shots since a confrontation during a White House press briefing on Monday. In a Tuesday interview with Dana Perino, Baier came to Karl’s defense.

“The president, you know, pushes back very hard on things that he perceives as an attack. I think, you know, Jon Karl is not a third-rate reporter. He’s been around. He’s the president of the White House’s Press Correspondents Association,” Baier explained.

He continued, “Those give-and-takes are the president in his element, and I think we’re going to see more of that. We’ll see if we see it today. He was a bit salty yesterday, it seemed, to some of those questions at the press briefing.”

During the exchange on Monday evening, Trump told Karl he would “never make it,” adding, “You’re a third-rate reporter, and what you just said is a disgrace.”

On Tuesday morning, Karl responded to the incident, saying, “He can insult me all he wants. I don’t care. What matters is getting to the bottom of what is happening with the federal response and how people should be responding to this crisis.”

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