Fox News Hosts Are Divided Over Buttigieg Town Hall

There appears to be deep divides at Fox News over the performance of Pete Buttigieg, a Democrat looking to become America's first out president, on their own network.

After Buttigieg dragged a couple of network personalities at a town hall event on the network, Fox & Friends hosts said they don't want the candidate to come on the channel anymore. But conservative commentator Brit Hume, a long-time fixture on the network, thought Buttigieg performed incredibly well at the event.

Hume even offered high praise to Buttigieg during a segment on Monday.

"Pete Buttigieg is the most impressive, by far, candidate in terms of just raw political talent in the Democratic field," Hume said. "And, he may be the most impressive candidate I've seen since the emergence of Barack Obama."

Hume, of course, did not agree with all of Buttigieg's political positions as iterated at the town hall, and suggested the candidate's support of woman's right to an abortion at any stage of pregnancy falls outside mainstream views.

But he praised Buttigieg's ability to address any issue presented to him, even if some question the level of detail in the candidate's agenda.

Hume said Buttigieg was "as fluid as he can be."

But that's a very different take than hosts for the morning show Fox & Friends.

While morning host Steve Doocy called the South Bend, Ind. mayor "smooth," "thoughtful" and "sometimes funny," hosts offered a negative read overall.

A spot on Fox & Friends focused on Buttigieg's calls for higher taxes and eliminating the electoral college.

The day after the town hall event, morning host Brian Kilmeade suggested Buttigieg had somehow filled the audience with supporters at the Fox News-organized event.

"They are all his friends. I think he's related to the whole audience," said host Brian Kilmeade.

"You've got to know where he stands on the issues," said host Ainsley Earhardt. "He's extremely progressive."

But Kilmeade took particular issue with Buttigieg slamming hosts Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham during the event.

"Don't hop on our channel and continue to put down the other hosts on the channel," Kilmeade said. "If you feel that negative about it, don't come. Because for him to go out there and take shots at our prime time line-up without going on our prime time line-up shows, to me, shows absolutely no courage."

Ingraham herself refused to play a clip of Buttigieg attacking her for comparing children detainment centers to summer camps. But she responded to Buttigieg directly, calling him "Pope Pete."

"It's hard to patronize and condescend your way to winning the nomination," she said.