Fox News’ Joint Interview with House Speaker Candidates Canceled after Lawmakers Pull Out, Bret Baier Announces

Fox News anchor Bret Baier announced Friday that a scheduled joint interview with Republican candidates for the House speakership has been canceled after the three guests — Representatives Jim Jordan of Ohio, Steve Scalise of Louisiana, and Kevin Hern of Oklahoma — pulled out under pressure from the rest of the GOP conference.

The interview was initially scheduled to air live from Capitol Hill on Baier’s Special Report on Monday evening. But after Punchbowl News reported Friday morning that three candidates had agreed to participated in a “debate” moderated by Baier, the candidates came under pressure from the rest of the caucus not to discuss conference business publicly, Baier said Friday afternoon during an appearance on Martha McCallum’s program.

“We locked in the declared candidates for speaker, Chairman of the Judiciary Committee Jim Jordan, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise. They and their staffs confirmed that they would sit together and — on Capitol Hill on Monday for an in-depth discussion about the speaker’s race, what the issues are ahead,” Baier said.

After learning that Representative Kevin Hern of Oklahoma also planned to enter the race, Fox extended an invite to him and said they would hold off on announcing the interview until after he formally entered the contest, Baier said.

But then the Punchbowl report derailed their plans. Asked about the report, Jordan’s spokesman told National Review that he would not be attending and CNN reported that Scalise had also decided against attending after speaking with Jordan.

In response to the leak, Hern — the chairman of the largest GOP caucus, the Republican Study Committee — tweeted that he had not yet decided whether he would run for speaker but vowed that he was “not going to be on TV before I talk to the Republican members.”

Fox was ultimately forced to cancel the event as the candidates withdrew.

“It’s not going to happen on Monday. We’re still going to do the show on Capitol Hill and we’re booking some interesting guests there as well,” Baier said. “But I think the word ‘debate’ has scared some folks over the last couple of days and we’re hoping to change that. We’re going to use a different word going forward: ‘in-depth discussion.'”

Internal elections for the speakership are scheduled for Wednesday, a source familiar with the procedural plans told Politico.

While House sources told National Review previously that Scalise has the clearest path to the position, there have been concerns about his health from some GOP members. Scalise is battling a form of blood cancer known as multiple myeloma and is undergoing treatment while continuing to serve.

After entertaining a potential bid for the speakership himself, former president Trump endorsed Jordan, a favorite of the conference’s right-wing hardliners, for the role Thursday night.

Hern gained several votes for the speakership in January before McCarthy ultimately prevailed. He is currently gauging support for his bid among members.

On Tuesday, a motion to vacate from Florida representative Matt Gaetz succeeded, booting McCarthy from his leadership role. The vote was 216-210, with a small group of House Republicans joining Democrats to oust McCarthy. The embattled former GOP leader was canned after barely securing the spot in January following a multi-day voting marathon instigated by the same party dissidents. McCarthy bowed out of running again this week.

Before endorsing Jordan on Thursday, Trump volunteered to temporarily serve as House speaker for up to 90 days while Republicans figure out who will replace McCarthy.

“I have been asked to speak as a unifier because I have so many friends in Congress,” Trump told Fox News. “If they don’t get the vote, they have asked me if I would consider taking the speakership until they get somebody longer-term because I am running for president.”

“They have asked me if I would take it for a short period of time for the party, until they come to a conclusion,” he added. “I’m not doing it because I want to — I will do it if necessary, should they not be able to make their decision.”

Some members of the House Freedom Caucus have embraced Trump as speaker, with Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene writing on X, “If Trump becomes Speaker of the House, the House chamber will be like a Trump rally everyday!!”

“It would be the House of MAGA!!!” she said.