Last night on Comedy Central's The Daily Show, Jon Stewart called out the broadcast media for failing to include Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) in the top tier of potential candidates for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. One of the people Stewart called out was Bret Baier. Stewart accused Baier of giving a “smirk and an eye roll” after Paul promised to bring troops home during the GOP presidential debate that Baier co-moderated.

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Stewart's criticism appeared to hit home. The very next day Bret Baier appeared on Fox News' Happening Now and stated: “One person to not discount, and we don't, is Congressman Ron Paul.” Baier added: “There has been a lot of media criticism about the media coverage of Congressman Paul and I think that is a fair assessment.”

Baier also asserted that Paul “will be a factor throughout this race.”

Following Baier's lead, Happening Now host Jenna Lee reported on a recent spike in sales for Texas Governor Rick Perry's book since he entered the race for the Republican presidential nomination. She then noted that other candidates have written books as well, singled out Ron Paul's book for mention, and promised to check “and see if they've probably gotten a bump up as well.”

UPDATE:

Bret Baier responded to Jon Stewart's comments on Twitter:

Funny - but my smirk there was NOT over what congressman Paul said - it was ovr the fact that i couldn't control the crowd outbursts - during the breaks -i had asked them 5 times 2 hold applause - stewart misinterpreted it RT @RayZorback @Bret_Baier did U C John Stewart comment on Ron Paul vs media? He pokes fun at U 2 (in gd fun). It's hilarious. http://j.mp/p5m23V