Bret Baier, the chief political anchor for Fox News and host of “Special Report with Bret Baier,” joined Boston Herald Radio’s “Trending Now” yesterday. He talked about his new book, his son’s courage and, of course, politics. Here are excerpts:
Q: You have a book coming out and it’s not about politics but something very personal to you — your son, Paul, who was born with a number of congenital heart defects.
A: Yeah, it comes out June 3rd. It’s called “Special Heart,” and basically he’s been through three open-heart surgeries and seven angioplasties. He’s going to turn 7 this June, and he’s doing fantastic. He’s the tallest kid in his class, and you would never know on the playground, but that journey that we’ve been through, I felt like I should chronicle it and I did from the very beginning. … We’re going to donate 100 percent of the money we receive from the book to pediatric heart disease research and treatment, every dollar.
Q: How do you continue to thrive in your career while you’re going through this?
A: I go through the book and it’s interesting because there are major news events that are happening throughout these different surgeries, and it is difficult. The fortunate thing is I have an amazing wife who is a rock, and I work for a great company. … This whole thing has given me perspective on the important things, and so when Washington gets mired in this back and forth between parties, I think this has taught me that there’s a lot more than that and hopefully I can bring that to families watching.
Q: How is Elizabeth Warren viewed in Washington?
A: She’s viewed as powerful because she’s clearly motivated and fired up the left wing of the Democratic Party. I think people read between the tea leaves when she’s on these Sunday shows, including this weekend when she was asked about Hillary Clinton and endorsing and she says “We’re not there yet.” I think there is a sense that if Hillary doesn’t run, she’s where the party would turn.
Q: Who do you view as the favorites on the Republican side?
A: We still have a long way to go, but I think the big money people would like to see Jeb Bush run. … Gov. (Chris) Christie has had his battles. I don’t think a lot of people believe he can bounce back. … There are some in the party who think Gov. Scott Walker in Wisconsin and Gov. Mike Pence in Indiana both have really great records to run on. And then you have the senators. Sen. Marco Rubio was talking about a possible run and Sen. Rand Paul is clearly getting a lot of attention.
