Bret Baier has extra cause to feel grateful this Father's Day
Bret Baier is marking a milestone this Father’s Day — it’s been more than two years since his son had to undergo open heart surgery.
“We kind of turned the corner a little bit — knock on wood — it should be his last open-heart surgery,” Baier said of the 2021 procedure his now-16-year-old son, Paul, underwent.
“He’ll have more procedures that are much less serious, but still serious,” he said of his eldest son, who was born with five congenital heart defects and has had four surgeries. Baier and wife, Amy, are also parents to their 13-year-old son, Daniel.
Balancing his day job as Fox News Channel’s “Special Report” and chief political anchor — Baier is poised to sit down for an interview with former President Trump on Monday, as first reported by The Hill’s Dominick Mastrangelo — with his home life can be difficult, the journalist said.
“I think it is tough more and more in today's day and age to hang up your job at the door when you go in. We’re constantly connected and it’s a 24/7 news cycle — social media connects us even more. So I really have to try to disconnect, and I try to do that, especially on the weekends,” Baier said.
The medical challenges his family’s faced, he said, have the power to alter his view on the daily grind and the political mudslinging the press is constantly covering.
“All of those times in the hospital — going from work to staying over in a hospital bed with my son — gave me the perspective of the small things are really that: they’re small,” Baier, 52, said.
“Whether it's rhetorical battles, or the sort of back-and-forth on Capitol Hill, or somebody tweeting something about somebody else — the big picture is family matters, life matters, health matters,” he said.
“Every family is dealing with something outside of this day-to-day news that we cover. Everything's important to cover, but big picture is there's a lot more important things for family.”
Father’s Day on Sunday will likely include a round of golf with his kids, Baier told ITK.
“That’s our joint activity. My wife Amy is not a big golfer, but she comes along because she doesn’t want to be a golf widow and kind of left out of the mix,” he said.
The Baiers’ Father’s Day tradition also typically includes a special meal out at a steakhouse, where each family member goes around the table and offers a trio of compliments.
“We usually try to say three nice things about why we love the other person or what is great about them,” Baier said before quipping that his teenage sons constantly keep him “in check.”
“And hopefully they can get to three,” Baier said with a laugh.