Kamala Harris & Bret Baier Interview Highlights
- vivian
Vice President Harris had her first formal sit-down interview with Fox News on “Special Report with Bret Baier” on Wednesday.
Kamala Harris had her first—and possibly her last—formal sit-down interview with Fox News.
On Wednesday, Oct. 16, the Vice President spoke with the network’s chief political anchor, Bret Baier, and the conversation quickly turned combative. As somewhat expected, the contention was evident in Baier’s frequent interruptions and attempts to speak over Harris.
For a Democratic presidential candidate, appearing on the conservative-leaning network was a way to enter the fray. Harris is the first Democratic presidential nominee in eight years to sit for an interview on Fox News, following 2016 standard-bearer Hillary Clinton, who spoke with Chris Wallace. However, Harris is attempting to counter Republican nominee Donald Trump, who previously declined both CBS News’ 60 Minutes interview and a second presidential debate. In recent days, she has also participated in several high-profile national media interviews, including appearances on ABC’s The View and The Howard Stern Show.
Here are the highlights from the nearly 30-minute interview.
Baier Interrupts Harris Repeatedly
Baier seemed determined to derail Harris’s talking points—often by echoing those of Trump. And it took him less than 20 seconds to interrupt her for the first time.
“You have to let me finish, please,” Harris said during the exchange on immigration. “I’m in the middle of responding to the point you’re raising, and I’d like to finish.”
As the interview progressed, Baier eventually noted during a constant back-and-forth moment, “We’re talking over each other.” Overall, he interrupted Harris at least 38 times in 27 minutes, although he did offer an apology at one point.
Harris Tries to Distance Herself from Joe Biden… A Bit
Baier’s questions primarily focused on immigration and border security, examining how President Joe Biden and Harris have handled these issues during their administration. However, Harris seized the opportunity to make her clearest effort yet to distinguish herself from Biden.
“My presidency will not be a continuation of Joe Biden’s presidency. Like every new president who comes into office, I will bring my life experiences, my professional experiences, and fresh, new ideas,” Harris stated. “I represent a new generation of leadership.”
Harris Mentions Republicans Endorsing Her… A Lot
Harris ventured onto the openly pro-Trump network with the mission of reaching moderate Republicans, having earlier appeared alongside more than 100 Republicans, including former Trump administration officials who have endorsed her.
She seized every opportunity to highlight those endorsements and made sure to reference Trump’s recent remarks about Democrats being “the enemy within.” He has also suggested he might need to use the military to deal with that “enemy.”
Baier Tries to Bait Harris
After Harris noted that former Trump administration officials have claimed Trump is unfit for office, Baier seemed determined to elicit a sound bite from her. He asked if potential voters were “misguided” if the “unfit” Trump was leading her in some swing states.
“Why, if he’s as bad as you say, is half of this country now supporting this person who could be the 47th president of the United States?” he pressed, to which Harris replied that elections were never meant to be easy. Baier then interjected, “So are they misguided, the 50%? Are they stupid?”
“Oh god, I would never say that about the American people,” Harris replied. However, she did reference someone else.
Baier Makes a Mistake With Trump Clips
On the question of who is regularly demeaning Americans, Baier called for a clip of Trump’s earlier interview with Fox News’ Harris Faulkner, in which Trump referred to Democrats as “the enemy within.” However, the wrong soundbite aired—one in which Trump insisted he wasn’t threatening anyone.
Harris responded, “Bret, I’m sorry, and with all due respect, that clip was not what he has been saying about the enemy within, that he has repeated when he’s speaking about the American people. That’s not what you just showed.”
“I’m telling you that was the question that we asked him,” Baier countered after being called out.
The next day, during a discussion with Faulkner and Harold Ford Jr., Baier admitted, “I did make a mistake, and I want to say I did make a mistake.”
“When I called for a soundbite, I was expecting a piece of the ‘enemy from within’ from Maria Bartiromo’s interview, to be tied to the piece from your town hall, Harris, where you ask the former president about the enemy from within. It just had the piece about the town hall,” Baier added. In that town hall with women voters, Trump had reiterated, “It is the enemy from within, and they are very dangerous; they are Marxists and communists and fascists and they’re sick.”