Peter Doocy: Tuning Out The Noise
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It's Live in the Bream with host of Fox News at Night, Shannon Bream.

This week on Live in the Bream, we are going to talk with one of my absolute favorite people at Fox News, maybe in the world. He's a great guy. You know you love him. You're the reason that you turn into the White House briefings is for this guy. The one and only Fox News White House correspondent, Peter Doocy, joins us on Live in the Bream. How you doing, Peter? Hey, Shannon. I'm great. How are you doing? Should I tell people? Because you know what I like to say, that we started out as roommates. I

I know. And just leave it at that. We won't even explain the rest of the story, but that was many moons ago when you were first at Fox and already destined for greatness. And listen, did you think did you have a career path? Did you think it out? Did you think you would end up at the White House? Is it something you wanted to do? I mean, it seems like such a perfect fit for you.

I don't think that I really ever thought about it as a destination in the beginning, to be honest, because when I came on everything in DC was so new. And so you have to learn how the Hill works, how the Pentagon works, how the state department works. And it, it takes years to kind of wrap your head around things. And as I was in the process of doing that, I got to go out on the road for a couple of years and learn how campaigns work. And I, I,

I was just so focused on the horse race that really started like the, the Joe Biden 2020 race really started in 2016 because he was seen as, uh,

front runner if he got in he decides not to run but then he's this very powerful surrogate going into 2018 and that's kind of when i linked up with him and then you know i was there on his first day as a candidate at the train station in wilmington delaware and so i i started thinking uh

as I was with him for a couple months and that stretched into years okay well if he wins I would like to stay with him and be at the White House and I found out that I was going to come here I believe it was exactly one week before the inauguration and listen I think he's got a soft spot for you I don't know about a soft spot but he definitely

he he can be playful at these events and you know he'll be wrapping up his prepared remarks and he's putting on his mask and he'll he'll hesitate and kind of look around like okay oh that's easier is anybody gonna shout anything like what's it gonna be and so

And I appreciate that, that he likes to he likes to play with some of the hard questions. And it's not just us. You know, people people are shouting at him all the time about different things. But he hasn't heard anything that has made him stop yet.

Yeah. Well, we're always grateful because, you know, a lot of times the truth is you're the person with the closest access to him that actually asks different questions and will probe different topics that most of the media isn't aware of, or it's just not a focus for them. So I think people love seeing you at work there and in the briefings with Jen Psaki, I think you guys have a very good relationship. I mean, I think you respect each other as professionals, but you're not afraid to push back and forth the two of you. Definitely. And Jen has been very good. Um,

Obviously, at the briefings and also in the time before and after that, she and her staff are very engaging. And I know that sometimes on social media, people will take a clip and kind of try to represent it as something that it's not. But a couple of things to remember about that. Number one, I don't know that everybody that.

post a clip of me and Jen Psaki or me and Biden actually watches the whole clip even if it's only like 20 seconds uh and also the the White House people are not the ones who are doing that it's it's others who are watching online and so I my experience with her and with the president uh in year one of

Biden, term one, has been very great. They're very professional, and we have a good relationship. Is there ever a time now, or was there a time early on where you thought, oh, I'm going to have to ask this today. They're not going to like it, but it's important. I got to ask it. How do I phrase this? And kind of go in there thinking, this could get a little bit combative. No. And in fact, that's part of what makes it fun is if you have something that is...

kind of out there, you know that nobody else is going to ask it. Because part of the challenge is you have to have so much more stuff when you go into the briefing room than you need because...

Unless you go first, the stuff from the front page of the newspaper will already have all been asked. And so you've got to have stuff on other topics. And part of the fun ahead of time is figuring out what,

is not going to be asked that is still important enough to be brought up in the white house briefing room and then you do all this homework you learn about it and then you're kind of an expert for a day just in case she asks okay well what do you mean okay well how do you know that okay well prove it and so that's kind of how the the back and forths with her start sometimes hours before

the briefing, either from emailing with her or just from kind of trying to chart out in my head, okay, how's this going to go?

So you have fans and you have critics like we all do, especially at Fox News or in any media organization, people who want to critique what you do, how you do it. Do you care about any of that stuff? Do you engage in any of it on social media or just sort of like, listen, I know that we come to the table with people who just because of where we work, regardless of whether they are familiar with our personal work or just not going to like us.

No, none of that bothers me. And I'm not really active on social media. Some of the stuff that gets really big, you can't avoid. And there, but ultimately I think that if people care enough about something that they see in a white house briefing to post it, then that's good because I put so much thought and so much research into every day's questions that I know I,

Not everybody's going to catch it live on Fox at 1 PM. A lot of people are at work or at school or doing other stuff and

and i have tons of people who come up to me and they say i saw you talking to jen saki or i saw you talking to joe biden on tick tock or on twitter or on youtube and so just any way that people are going to see this stuff whether there is a comment on social media that is friendly or not if people just watch the stuff i think that they're gonna learn about a topic that i i decided in the morning was

worthy of going to the, you know, being asked at the white house, you know, we, we can only really ask about stuff that matters to people watching. And so I do think that if people just watch the stuff that they see on social media, then I'm confident that,

Well, listen, the White House is having a rough time right now. I mean, poll numbers are down. The honeymoon is definitely over a year in Afghanistan and the botched withdrawal and the 13 service members we lost there really seemed to launch sort of this backlash like, OK, this we're now into the thick of this presidency. There are very difficult things that are going on. COVID, no matter who the president is, that seems beyond human control in many respects.

The economy, though, the new numbers out on inflation, the worst since 1982. I don't think you were even born then. It's not a good picture for parents. I hadn't even met the last time that inflation was this high. So it's been a while. So listen, it's a it's a it's a tough spot for the administration to be in right now. How do you feel like they're managing that? Because on most fronts, there's nothing but negative news for them.

Well, it's less about what I think. Just look at the schedule. They're trying to kind of distract people. Hey, okay, all that stuff's going on. COVID's no good. Inflation is no good. But look over here at...

these problems with voting rights and the real problem is senate rules and so we're going to try to change those just and and they will talk about that it seems uh until there's nothing else to say you know they have a vote on the senate rules or they have a vote on voting rights uh it can go up it can go down but until then it seems like that's where they want everybody's attention but

You know, we're coming into a midterm year. They're going to have to decide soon what the issues are that the midterms will be decided on. And I'm not so sure that it's going to be voting rights issues.

I don't know. Filibuster. Right. But, you know, this president made a lot of bold promises and the history books will be written years from now. But you could argue now, 18 months later or a year and a half later, whatever it is, that Joe Biden was elected to stop COVID. And that hasn't happened. And that if there's one thing that the last election was decided on, there's no saying that

the next ones won't be decided on it too and so they really have to uh if they can't control covid then maybe they need to change the way that they're talking about it because they said we're going to shut it down and i asked the president whatever happened to that and he said well we have to beat it back to shut it down well it doesn't seem like they're beating it back and it doesn't seem like they're shutting it down so what maybe there's a different word that they should start using

Managing? I don't know. It's a tough one. Well, and the messaging has been confusing out of the White House, CDC, FDA, all these different federal agencies that sometimes they are at crosswinds with each other. And you see some of them sort of doing cleanup for something another one has said. And I know it's frustrating for the White House, too, because you got a lot of different, quote unquote, experts out there giving their opinions. But I want to talk about this issue that you brought up with voting rights and filibuster, because that's really the focus right now as we're recording this.

And listen, at the center of that, Senator Kyrsten Sinema, Senator Joe Manchin, do they, they've repeatedly said to the president publicly, privately, they're not for blowing up the filibuster option. But, you know, the president goes to Atlanta and gives a speech and says, do you want to be on the wrong side of history and be lined up with George Wallace? I don't know if that kind of stuff works with Joe Manchin. I know they have conversations and they talk. Do you think there's any budging discussion

these senators who don't want to move on that particular issue doesn't seem like it and these are senators who don't really seem like they care if their bosses or if activists are pressuring them you know if uh Cinema is not gonna change her vote on

the social spending plan when people are chasing her down in a ladies room and filming it. Yeah. And filming it. I don't know that she's going to change it because the president gives a speech in Atlanta, change her view on on voting rights. And with Joe Manchin, he is a guy that has never really relented with any of this stuff and not just with Joe Biden. When Donald Trump was president, when Obama was president, it's always Manchin.

who's there kind of sticking to his guns eventually he'll negotiate something but i don't see in in a matter of days or even weeks uh mansion or cinema deciding uh we want to change the way that this place works yeah it would be a stunning about face if they did we'll have more live in the bream in a moment

This episode is brought to you by Experian. Are you paying for subscriptions you don't use but can't find the time or energy to cancel them? Experian could cancel unwanted subscriptions for you, saving you an average of $270 per year and plenty of time. Download the Experian app. Results will vary. Not all subscriptions are eligible. Savings are not guaranteed. Paid membership with connected payment account required. Listen, I want to backtrack a little bit because you talked about your roots of ending up where you are now, being on the campaign trail, which is one of those things that

When they start to gear up, like we get excited, it's fun to go out, you're chasing the candidates around because the campaigning lasts for at least two years for this stuff. It's also exhausting though. I think people don't maybe get how crazy it is that you're in different hotels almost every night. You're eating out of vending machines. Like you're exhausted. Every show wants you. You're working morning, noon, and night. What was the experience like for you before COVID?

Before COVID, we had the flexibility because the Democratic field was so big and I was assigned to the Democrats that basically we could go anywhere as long as we were available from 9 a.m. So America's newsroom through special report. And what that meant is.

when you're in Iowa after special report, you're driving four hours pretty much across the state every night to get somewhere else. Uh, in the time before the caucuses and primaries started, that would mean getting on a plane, uh, after special report and trying to get wherever you can get and wherever people are. And so it's a lot of late nights, a lot of early mornings. Um, but I, uh,

I loved it. And it was such an adventure. You get to see the country. You get to meet all kinds of people, try the food everywhere. That's a plus and a minus. You really get to see it. You really get to understand like what the big issues are that are going to decide the election. And when COVID hit,

That meant a lot more time in Delaware, which was challenging in its own way because nobody knew anything. You think back to March of 2020, we went home for a couple of weeks, but then it's like you got to go find Joe Biden and, you know, there's still an election in November. So we got to figure out what the Democratic candidate is doing.

And so that brought its own set of challenges and a lot more takeout food, I would say, than going out to restaurants. But I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. Now, somewhere in the middle of all of this campaigning, new president, COVID, all of this kind of stuff, you had a major personal life change too that was very positive at a time when we all needed positive news.

I did. I decided to get a roommate for the first time since college. A real one. More than 10 years. Yeah, no, I got married. And that was one of the biggest...

it's the biggest thing I've ever done in my life but planning a wedding at peak covid was not peak covid but it was a time when a lot was still unknown and the vaccines were coming out but they were still really hard to get nobody knew exactly how effective they were so we had to make sure that everything was outside we did family and uh like immediate family and

their fiancees or husbands or wives only. So 17 total people at this wedding. And, uh, and we pulled it off in, in COVID, uh,

And again, it's another experience, very unique to this time. But we're lucky that it, that we were able to do it at all and that everybody was able to come that we wanted there. It looked like such a beautiful day, such a beautiful day. And you told me something about the wedding gown. I did not know because I thought it was stunningly gorgeous and I was very impressed. My wife, Hillary Vaughn of Fox Business, if you're one

watching or listening uh she designed it online gorgeous she's multi-talented yes i mean i would expect nothing less and she was happy with it which is the most important thing

Yeah. So have you guys had any real break? I mean, now that, you know, your newlywed days are both of you are reporters chasing around every bit of news at a very chaotic time that has plenty of events going on. Some expected, many unexpected. What's like for for two reporters doing this? Well, we were able to take a short honeymoon. One of the benefits of all that time in a different hotel every night is you

loyalty points. And so I had millions of points at one major hotel chain. And so was able to cash those in for a very nice room out in Scottsdale, Arizona, which is where we decided to do kind of a mini. We're out there for five days or so. And yet you think that you're going to do all these things and you make all kinds of plans and stuff to do. And

And then you realize that a honeymoon is really just a chance to rest after a week. Exactly. And to be together. Yeah, and to be together. But so it was very relaxing. And then we came back. And now in the last year, we're...

It's been a lot of family weddings and milestone birthdays. And so most of our trips have, you know, my mom and dad both turned 65 in the last year. So trips to go toast them. And both my sisters have been married in the last year and a half or so. And so it's all of our time so far has been spent celebrating birthdays.

everybody else and so just lots of celebrations in our first almost year of marriage your parents are dwarves and America loves them your dad likes to share all kinds of personal information though is that okay with you

Oh, yeah, it's great. If it's going to be something that he is curious, like, is this OK? He does make a point to always ask. And so much appreciated. I haven't had anybody come up to me on the street like, I can't believe that you did this. But it is it is nice. You know, it's just another way that.

We can connect with people watching. It's a way for people to get to know you. And so I don't have any issue with it. And I can ask you this too. I mean, you guys are truly, literally part of the Fox family, literally and figuratively. And it is a big family. We go out and see people and they feel like they know us. And I love that because they immediately are like, oh, I know XYZ about you or I watch you all the time. Or, you know, you have good experiences when you're out there. Or do people still sometimes call you Steve?

Uh, you know, people sometimes do, but a lot of people don't think that me and him, like our father and son, they think that we're brothers, which is older than me. People think that we're brothers. Great for him. Probably not so good for me.

You're always going to look 30. That's the deal. But people are overwhelmingly nice and it's so nice. I don't know if this is your experience too, but when you see stuff that is written on social media, usually it's like 99% bad, 1% nice. Whereas in person, nobody that has a problem with you ever actually says it. No, that's true. So if it's negative, if it's 99 to one negative online, it's,

99 to one positive when you're just out and about. Yeah. And I find that people who come over and want to chat or they want selfies or that kind of thing. That's our Fox family. And yeah, I would say mine has been 100 percent positive with them because I think you're right. The people who really hate us probably luckily, for the most part, knock on wood, have left us alone in public.

Anyway, Peter, thank you for giving us a look inside the White House, your busy day, your personal life too. And listen, we will count on you and watch you leading the way and getting answers there with the administration as we move forward, hopefully through COVID very quickly. And I think we've all been waiting two years for that and into the midterms. So Peter, thank you for all you do. Great to have you on Living the Brain. Thank you.

And it's a big year, a midterm year, election year. So lots of questions about stuff that is not even on our radar yet. So keep watching. All right, Peter, thank you so much. And thank you for listening to Live in the Brain.