Fox News anchors brush off Trump criticism ahead of election night

Fox News anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum are brushing off blistering criticism of the network that has come from former President Trump in the hours before Election night 2024.

Trump, who was famously enraged at Fox after its relatively early Arizona race call on election night four years ago, attacked the network again Sunday over political advertising on the channel.

“Fox News keeps putting on Democrat ads, as part of their news program. Their soundbites are almost all of Harris and her Democrat friends, all of whom are on the shows,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform Sunday morning. “FOX NEWS IS NOT OUR FRIEND. It’s crazy!”

Baier, during an interview with The Hill on Sunday evening, dismissed the GOP nominee's latest attack.

“If you see his Truth Social posts, I don't think there's a lot of discrimination," Baier said. “We've covered the election fairly. That's just part of the deal with the former president. ... We've been at the focus for a while now, and that's OK with us.”

Trump was irate at Fox over the Arizona race call in 2020, and appealed directly to the Murdoch family that night to complain.

In more recent months, the former president has called Rupert Murdoch a “globalist” who is “trying to tear me down,” and said last month he would meet with the billionaire media mogul ask him to stop airing Democratic campaign ads.

Litigation against Fox by Dominion Voting Systems unearthed internal communications at the outlet showing the immense pressure network executives and hosts were under to retain audience as Trump contested the election's result.

Today, still the top-watched cable news channel, Fox knows its election night coverage will be closely watched as results come in Tuesday, while many observers, including Vice President Harris's campaign, expect Trump to declare victory early.

“It's just part of the business that you're going to tick someone off on one side or the other,” MacCallum told The Hill. “The way that you keep viewers and hold their trust over time is by doing a good job.”

Like many of the major networks, Fox is planning to roll out new graphics showing vote totals and is prepared to put decision desk staff on air to explain how it is making race calls and projections.

“I have a gut feeling this is going to roll one way or the other in a pretty decisive manner,” MacCallum predicted. “My hope is that we don't end up in long, strung-out legal fights. I don't think it's what's best for the country and what most Americans want.”