When I think of “fair and balanced journalism”, I think of reporters who present both sides of the debate and allow viewers and readers to make up their own minds, rather than the media engaging in one-sided “reporting” and trying to tell their audience what to think.

This apparently is also the mindset of Fox News “Special Report” host Bret Baier, who is one of the most respected names in journalism once one ventures beyond the fetid fever swamps of CNN and MSNBC.

On Baier’s program Wednesday, he aired clips from President Trump’s 46-minute video alleging election fraud. Baier had guests and panelists give their thoughts on it afterwards.

CNN junior media hall monitor Oliver Darcy, who is about as much of on expert on journalistic integrity as Bill Clinton is on the sanctity of marital vows, took to the Twitter machine to try zinging Baier over the segment – apparently forgetting how badly things went for him the last time he tried to discredit Baier.

In his first tweet, Darcy beclowned himself by accusing Baier of a “dereliction of duty” for allegedly airing “multiple clips from Trump’s 44-minute voter fraud video without issuing any sort of fact-check on the nonsensical and wild claims Trump alleged”:

Dereliction of duty from @BretBaier, Fox's chief political anchor, who just aired multiple clips from Trump's 44-minute voter fraud video without issuing any sort of fact-check on the nonsensical and wild claims Trump alleged. pic.twitter.com/9vkEAAwqXk

— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) December 2, 2020

Baier, being the consummate professional he is, calmly fact-checked him while still in the middle of conducting the “Special Report” broadcast:

Sorry you missed the beginning of the show Oliver. And the panel segment —but thanks for the tweet. https://t.co/jqRVi9fNi7

— Bret Baier (@BretBaier) December 2, 2020

But that wasn’t enough for Darcy, who struck back in a style reminiscent of a toy poodle frantically nipping at someone’s heels in a desperate plea for attention:

It's great Kristin fact-checked at very start of your show. You then played a bunch of clips later and didn't provide any of that necessary context. C'mon.

— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) December 2, 2020

At that point, Baier had had enough and responded by stating that there actually was a discussion and analysis of Trump’s video on the show, which Darcy either didn’t watch all the way through or conveniently left out because narratives and what not. “It’s called balance. You should try it,” Baier advised in a mic-drop moment before moving on to more important matters:

I am mid-show. But you may want to rewind Kevin Corke’s piece -the discussion with the panel. It’s called balance. You should try it. Thanks for always tuning in. https://t.co/yJ6mdx6C8n

— Bret Baier (@BretBaier) December 2, 2020

In a word, it was dunktastic:

@CNN @oliverdarcy 😂 pic.twitter.com/sdb4Iu6Y2J

— Carl T. (@CarlJT31) December 2, 2020

Darcy tried to take a final swing at Baier, which was a petty attack considering anchors have no control over the chyrons that appear onscreen:

Hard-hitting stuff, Bret. pic.twitter.com/wF0iR1q384

— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) December 2, 2020

But that one failed, too:

This'll only take a moment pic.twitter.com/szBm3PBvRj

— 🏜️ (@sogoldensolo) December 2, 2020

Later on, Darcy and Stelter concern-trolled Baier in their newsletter because of course they did:

It's stating the obvious, but CNN's @BrianStelter and @OliverDarcy are detestable individuals. For them, there's no diversity allowed in news presentation. It's their way or they'll try to shut you down.@BretBaier is both a better journalist and man than they will ever be. pic.twitter.com/Y96G7AuJRI

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) December 3, 2020

I know there’s a lot of understandable anger towards Fox News right now from many on the right. But Baier is one of the good guys at Fox who plays it straight down the line. This is in stark contrast to the Zucker-controlled zombies at CNN, who from the opinion side to the “objective” side are only allowed to “report” from one perspective while routinely smearing the other.

Chris Cuomo admitted as much a couple of weeks ago during a live broadcast.

For an obnoxious punk like Darcy to think he could credibly and authoritatively school a seasoned journalist like Baier, especially in light of CNN’s conference call tapes, is hilarious beyond words.

Don’t quit your day job, Darcy. Oh, wait – maybe you should.

On a related note, please say a prayer for Baier’s 13-year-old son as he prepares to have his 4th open-heart surgery today:

Our warrior Paul, 13, heading in for his 4th open heart surgery ❤️ at @childrensnational Different during Covid. Thank you for all the prayers 🙏& good wishes. #grateful #chd #heart @ Childrens National Hospital https://t.co/nzpuEJkfzj

— Bret Baier (@BretBaier) December 3, 2020

Related: CNN’s Oliver Darcy Calls for Censorship of Trump’s Twitter Account, Jonathan Turley Schools Him