Fox News Bret Baier told viewers this week that it was worthwhile to note the “starkly different” reactions by President Trump and former President Bill Clinton regarding their respective impeachment acquittals.
“This was a lot like a stump speech. A campaign rally,” the network’s chief political anchor said in response to Mr. Trump’s comments from the East Room on Thursday. “And kind of a victory lap in this moment. There is nothing that prevents the president from doing that.”
Mr. Trump ripped years of Russia “bulls—t” investigations and “vicious” Democrats who have tried to sink his administration.
“I’ve beaten them all my life, and I’ll beat ’em again if I have to,” he said.
“This was unlike anything we’ve ever seen,” Mr. Baier told colleague Harris Faulkner of the president’s reaction to the Senate’s 53-47 acquittal vote, Mediaite reported. “[Trump] clearly wanted to get those thoughts out, one by one, about why he thinks this was all made up. But he is not regretting anything. If you look at the acquittal speech after the last impeachment in the United States, Bill Clinton in 1999, it was starkly different than that.”
Ms. Faulkner interjected the fact that Mr. Clinton lied under oath during special prosecutor Kenneth Starr’s work on a sexual-harassment suit against him by Paula Jones.
“I just want to slide in something that critics will say on behalf of the president — that those two things might not be apples and apples because President Clinton actually did lie,” Ms. Faulkner said. “That is behavior that is punishable by impeachment. So, I was just pointing that out.”
“Fair,” replied Mr. Baier. “I’m just saying that the last time we saw an acquittal speech, it was much different than this speech. And circumstances are different. This was Trump being Trump.”
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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