Kamala Harris, the Vice President, participated in a heated interview with Fox News anchor Bret Baier after Donald Trump declined a second debate with her. The interview was adversarial and unscripted, with both parties squabbling and interrupting each other. This clash was similar to her previous debate with Trump, rather than the formal interviews where she has stumbled in the past. While Harris used her typical technique of asking to be allowed to finish her points, the interview showcased her attempts to create new turning points in a tight race with no clear leader.
Harris’s appearance on Fox News demonstrated her willingness to engage in combative interviews and go into conservative media outlets. By doing so, she contrasted with Trump, who is largely avoiding television news interviews where he would face tough cross-examination. During the interview, Harris criticized Trump’s extreme rhetoric and threats to use the military on “enemies from within,” a perspective that Fox News viewers may not often hear. This performance reinforced her campaign tactic of warning about the potential dangers of a second Trump term, emphasizing her own differences and fresh ideas from Biden’s presidency.
Harris also attempted to do some damage control during the interview, addressing previous statements in which she stated she wouldn’t have done much differently from the current president. She asserted that her presidency would not be a continuation of Biden’s, emphasizing her unique perspectives and fresh ideas. During the interview, Harris was pressed on issues important to the conservative audience, including tragedies involving young American women murdered by undocumented migrants and her support for funding gender-affirming care for transgender inmates using taxpayer dollars. She clarified that she would follow the law on such policies if she were to become president.
Both Harris and Fox News likely achieved their desired outcomes from the interview. Harris appeared assertive and combative, standing out for engaging with a conservative news outlet and highlighting her differences with Trump. On the other hand, Fox News gained hours of post-interview analysis material, focusing on Harris’s responses to various questions and criticisms. The network highlighted Harris’s non-answer to one of Trump’s charges and delved into her stances on controversial issues that are important to the conservative audience. Overall, the interview provided both parties with content that contributed to the ongoing political discourse in the final weeks of the campaign.
