Bret Baier is the chief political anchor and anchor of Special Report with Bret Baier on FOX News Channel. He covered 9/11 at the Pentagon and has reported from Afghanistan and Iraq. Now, he’s in the midst of another “big moment” in our history.
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He’s also a father of two boys, ages 12 and 9. And being a parent has helped shape the way that he’s covering this story. Like so many, his boys are out of school and his family is holed up in their Florida condo where Baier has a remote uplink so he can work from home.
Usually on the road quite a bit, Baier is spending a lot more time with his family, which he appreciates. “It’s nice being home with my family.”
They spend their days walking the dog and following the guidelines. “We’re keeping our distance from their grandparents. We go out, we come back, and wash our hands.”
Reporting on Coronavirus
Baier realizes how hard it is to explain what’s happening to our kids. “This is an invisible enemy. There’s nothing that’s hitting you in the face like a terror attack.”
He compares COVID-19 to 9/11. “For our kids dealing with this, this is their 9/11. They haven’t been through something as traumatic as that. And when we went through 9/11, parents talked to their kids about terrorism and bad people and what they were trying to do. Now you’re talking to your kids about viruses and following rules and protecting yourself and how important that is.”
His sons have a lot of questions, and Baier tries to answer them in a “calm kind of way.”
Some of the questions he asks the doctors and experts on his show are “coming from what my kids want to know.”
The biggest one, of course, is how long the social distancing restrictions are going to last. Baier stated, “I think we’re at the beginning stages of this, and that’s troubling in and of itself.” The initial call was for 15 days, but “it sounds to me like it’s going to be longer than that.”
The Blessing of Technology
Having technology has helped Baier do his job, and it’s also helped his family. His boys have a digital connection to play Fortnite, their only form of interaction with other kids. “Technology is a big deal. Usually I say get off of it, but in this environment, I say it’s OK.”
They use Face Time to communicate with grandparents. Baier says, “If I had a piece of advice, it would be to really reach out, especially to older folks and have that communication still going on because they can get lonely.”
