Bret Baier Defends Anthony Weiner Coverage, Calls Out Jon Stewart

Note: this post has been updated.

Bret Baier defended the media's coverage of the Anthony Weiner scandal in an interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The press—and, in particular, cable news—has been criticized for the amount of space it devoted to the Weiner scandal. During his appearance on Fox News, Jon Stewart called the coverage an example of the media's tendency towards "sensationalism" and "laziness."

"Do you think the coverage of Anthony Weiner scandal is an example of pack journalism?" Baier's interviewer, Patricia Sheridan, asked him.

"No," Baier said. "It was an example of the media collectively saying, 'Why won't he answer a simple question with a simple answer?' The whole thing didn't add up from the beginning. So when he became combative, evasive and vague when he first started talking about it, he MADE it a story."

Speaking of Jon Stewart, Baier said that his appearance on "The Daily Show" in March went "fine," though he added that he didn't think he was going to be talking so much about Fox News. (The two wound up arguing about whether or not the network has a political slant.)

"Clearly Jon had his point of view going in," Baier said. "...The pre-interview for that interview, the producers were telling me how he was really interested in my trip to Afghanistan ... so I said during the pre-interview, 'I'm, sure there's going to be a lot of talk about Fox News Channel.' And she said, 'Oh, yeah, yeah.' It ended up being pretty much that is all he wanted to do."

Read the full interview here.

Baier also spoke with Brian Kilmeade on Monday about Stewart's contentious appearance on "Fox News Sunday." He said that Stewart tends to be disingenuous in the face of criticism. "When something goes he wrong, he punts to ‘I’m a comedian,’” he said.

Baier also talked to Men's Health about Father's Day over the weekend.