Bret Baier’s exuberant reaction to one of President Donald Trump’s golf shots has turned a routine sports clip into a media Rorschach test. What looked, to some viewers, like a Fox News anchor simply enjoying a good chip has been seized on by critics as proof that the network’s “straight news” side is increasingly indistinguishable from a fan club.
The moment, which unfolded during a star-heavy round of golf, has since been replayed, memed, and dissected as Baier was mocked for celebrating like a proud parent watching a child sink a winning putt at Augusta. The backlash is less about the swing itself than about what it suggests regarding the blurry line between journalism and cheerleading in Trump-era political coverage.
The chip shot that launched a thousand jokes
The spark for the uproar was a short clip of Trump holing a chip during a celebrity round, with Baier reacting so enthusiastically that online critics said he sounded as if his own kid had just won a major. The scene, which featured a star-studded group and a carefully framed view of the green, was quickly packaged and shared as evidence of how tightly Trump’s political brand is now intertwined with his golf persona. Coverage of the moment has repeatedly described Baier as being “mocked for” Cheering Like His Kid Just Won The Masters following Trump’s chip shot during a star-studded round, turning a few seconds of video into a broader commentary on his role at the network.
The reaction did not unfold in a vacuum. Earlier in the year, guest host Anthony Anderson used a late-night monologue to lampoon Baier’s performance, joking that this was what counted as “straight news” in an environment critics increasingly liken to state-run media. That framing has stuck, in part because it fits a pattern: Baier is often held up by Fox defenders as the sober counterweight to the network’s opinion hosts, so any hint of visible fandom for Trump is instantly weaponized by opponents. The fact that the clip emerged in Jul, with reports on Jul 8, 2025 explicitly flagging Baier being mocked for “Cheering Like His Kid Just Won The Masters” following Trump’s chip shot during a star-studded round, only intensified the sense that this was a crystallizing moment rather than a throwaway blooper.
Trump’s golf brand and the politics of fandom
The Baier clip also landed at a time when Trump’s golf game is itself a political storyline. Over the Thanksgiving period, he used a call with US troops to swipe at Joe Biden’s abilities on the course, then quickly followed up by posting video of himself draining a chip, with the ball rolling straight into the hole. That sequence, described in coverage of how Trump shows off golf skills after fresh swipes at Biden’s game, underscored how central golf has become to his image as a winner who still relishes competition. In that context, Baier’s over-the-top enthusiasm reads less like a neutral appreciation of a good shot and more like a televised affirmation of Trump’s preferred narrative about himself.
Trump’s golf orbit has also pulled in other celebrities, sometimes at a cost. When Wayne Gretzky appeared in a golfing context with Trump, the reaction in Canada was swift and unforgiving, with social media posts declaring that “Wayne Gretzky is now dead to most Canadians” and one viral message telling him, “Dear Wayne Gretzky, Go fuck yourself, and take Bobb…”. That backlash, captured in a trending thread that also referenced Fox News host Bret Baier, shows how proximity to Trump on the golf course can instantly become a political statement, even for figures who built their reputations far from Washington.
From late-night punchline to media credibility test
As the Baier clip ricocheted across social platforms, it quickly migrated from sports highlight to late-night fodder and then to a broader referendum on Fox News’ credibility. Commentators pointed out that Baier is often introduced as the network’s straight-arrow anchor, yet here he was sounding like a partisan hype man. That dissonance made the footage irresistible to critics who argue that Fox’s news and opinion sides are now functionally indistinguishable. The fact that the same mocking phrase about him “Cheering Like His Kid Just Won The Masters” resurfaced in later coverage of Trump’s media ecosystem, including a Nov 29, 2025 report that again described Baier being mocked for that reaction following Trump’s chip shot during a star-studded round, reinforced the idea that the moment had become shorthand for a perceived loss of distance between journalist and subject.
At the same time, Trump’s broader media presence continues to attract high-profile defenders who frame his instincts as savvy rather than sinister. Actor Josh Brolin, for example, has been quoted praising Trump as a marketing “genius” and pointing to a November 29 Truth Social post as evidence of his ability to command attention and shape narratives. That assessment appeared in a piece that also noted Baier being mocked for “Cheering Like His Kid Just Won The Masters” following Trump’s chip shot during a star-studded round, underscoring how the golf clip has become part of a larger story about Trump’s hold on both fans and media figures. The report, dated Nov 29, 2025, explicitly referenced how Bret Baier Mocked for that celebratory reaction, tying his on-air enthusiasm to the broader question of how journalists navigate Trump’s gravitational pull.
For Baier, the episode is unlikely to be career-defining on its own, but it does highlight the precarious optics facing any anchor who covers Trump while also appearing in his orbit. A single exuberant shout over a chip shot can be replayed as evidence of bias, especially when it aligns so neatly with critics’ preexisting narratives about Fox News. The fact that the moment has been cited in reports from Jul 8, 2025 and again on Nov 29, 2025, each time using the same mocking formulation about him cheering like a proud parent at the Masters, suggests it will linger as a shorthand in debates over where straight news ends and fandom begins.
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