By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc.com, originally filed Wednesday, January 27, 2016
I spoke with Fox News host and former Atlantan Bret Baier last week before Donald Trump announced he was pulling out of Thursday's debate in part because of fellow Fox News host Megyn Kelly's presence on the dais and some of Fox News' official comments about Trump himself. I am awaiting to see if I can get any follow up reaction from him. I'll update this if I do. Then Trump in a press conference left open the possibility he may attend after all.
Q: It's been five months since you guys opened the debate season. How do you think things have played out since then?
Baier: I don't think anybody could have predicted where we are in this race. It's kind of up in the air. A lot could change in a short time. This hasn't been like any election. For a political junkie like me, I'm on cloud nine!
Q: With five other debates since then, how much of a challenge is it to come up with fresh questions and topics?
Baier: That's the biggest difference for us. In August, we had an open plate. We covered a lot of topics... We got to see for the first time how they performed in a debate setting. I'm sitting in front of a giant binder with transcripts of all the other debates. I've broken them up by topic and questions asked. We are seeing where there are some openings for new lines of questioning. The ideal goal is always to take them off their talking points and stump speeches and dig in and provide voters some illumination of what they'd be like as president.
Q: Do you think we have too many debates?
Baier: The last cycle, we had 22 debates. This cycle we'll end up with 10 or fewer. The consensus was after 22 last time, everyone was tired and nominees got beaten up pretty badly. (This wiki site says there were 20.)
Q: Now we're closing in on actual voting.
Baier: We'll be there four days ahead of the Iowa caucuses after talking about this for two years. Finally people are going to show up and vote. That's exciting and it adds a lot of different dynamics.
Q: Many of the candidates are in low single digits in the polls. Do you sense they might be a bit desperate when they come to the debate to make some waves?
Baier: I think some of the candidates a little lower in the polls are probably going to come out swinging, to try to make their marks and convince people they're a fighter voters are looking for. Clearly, the electorate is angry. You can see it in both parties. There is significant push back against the status quo.
Q: Do you anticipate tension between Megyn Kelly and Donald Trump? [Whoops. Now an out of date question.]
Baier: There will be interest when Megyn asks a question. There will be some interaction after the fallout from the last debate. We're working to ask tough but fair questions...
Q: How do you and the other two moderators (Kelly and Chris Wallace) collaborate to put together questions?
Baier: We send each other questions and question ideas. We are brutal with each other. We try to polish the questions down. Megyn and I believe the shorter the question, the better the response. We also need to be able to listen to the answer and be ready for a follow up.
Q: How you phrase a question matters as much as the substance the question, right?
Baier: The phrasing is important. You want to take them off their normal answers. Tough but fair is what we're striving for. It's a lot of spinning plates. You have to adjust as you go. You want to encourage them to address issues with each other as well. But that can take you off your time. There's a producer in your ear all the time. You often have to juggle questions as you go while trying to give everyone equity.
Q: What happens during commercial breaks?
Baier: You get ready for the next round. You have some candidates lave the podium and come over and chat and try to work the refs. Give me more time! As the debates have gone on, that's more frequent.
Q: Ted Cruz held back in the early debates but has eaten up more time in recent debates. Is this something you are going to take into account?
Baier: It's going to depend on how things unfold that night. It's kind of a game-time decision how to deal with timing issues. Some candidates never complete their answer and fill up their allotted time. That's happened with Ben Carson and Rand Paul.
Here is Fox News' reaction to Trump's anticipated absence from the debate:
"As many of our viewers know, FOX News is hosting a sanctioned debate in Des Moines, Iowa on Thursday night, three days before the first votes of the 2016 election are cast in the Iowa Caucus. Donald Trump is refusing to debate seven of his fellow presidential candidates on stage that night, which is near unprecedented. We're not sure how Iowans are going to feel about him walking away from them at the last minute, but it should be clear to the American public by now that this is rooted in one thing – Megyn Kelly, whom he has viciously attacked since August and has now spent four days demanding be removed from the debate stage. Capitulating to politicians' ultimatums about a debate moderator violates all journalistic standards, as do threats, including the one leveled by Trump's campaign manager Corey Lewandowski toward Megyn Kelly. In a call on Saturday with a Fox News executive, Lewandowski stated that Megyn had a 'rough couple of days after that last debate' and he 'would hate to have her go through that again.' Lewandowski was warned not to level any more threats, but he continued to do so. We can't give in to terrorizations toward any of our employees. Trump is still welcome at Thursday night's debate and will be treated fairly, just as he has been during his 132 appearances on FOX News & FOX Business, but he can't dictate the moderators or the questions."
TV PREVIEW
"2016 Fox News/Google Republican Debate," 9 p.m. Thursday, Fox News
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