Special Report with Bret Baier has averaged over 2.2 million viewers a night this year. The show routinely ranks in the top five most-watched shows in all of cable news. Special Report has also been the highest rated 6 PM/ET cable news program for 14 consecutive years. Baier’s Common Ground podcast is among the top offerings on FOX News Audio. Those stats come from a press release.

Trump has agreed to tape a sit-down interview with Baier that will air during the show’s time slot on Monday, June 19. It’s a smart move for Trump. He is doing an interview early, before other declared candidates do so, and he gets the ratings bonus that the show pulls in. Plus, it is a serious venue, unlike when Trump is a guest on Hannity’s show – everyone knows the two are pals and it’s a very friendly venue. Baier’s interview will be more fair and balanced.

It will be the first time since 2018 that Trump has done an interview with Baier. The focus will be on the 2024 presidential primary, which will be a change from, say, the CNN town hall he did with Kaitlan Collins. She was busy concentrating on the past, not the future. Trump did well and it set the left on fire. CNN’s ratings were the highest they have been in a long time. And, Collins got the primetime gig she was auditioning for during that event. It was a win for everyone except the typical CNN viewer who demands only progressive programming.

This will be Trump’s first interview with one of FNC’s straight-new journalists since the 2020 election. He repeatedly attacks Fox, though it is the top-watched cable outlet. Recently he criticized Kayleigh McEnany in a nasty way and received a backlash for attacking America’s Sweetheart. She was one of his few good hires and was always fiercely loyal to him. His fragile ego couldn’t handle a perceived slight in the form of polling numbers. The ‘truth’ he posted about Kayleigh reminded voters about his personality flaws.

There is no reason for Trump to criticize Fox as he does. Most of the network’s hosts and commentators are clearly in the tank for Trump in 2024 and he should like that. The weekend Fox and Friends hosts are so in the tank for Trump that I no longer watch the show. The other candidates deserve a shot, too.

No doubt the interview on Special Report will garner big ratings. We’ll see how he handles it, though, I expect he’ll do just fine. He’s good in one-on-one interviews.