Vice President Kamala Harris tangled with Fox News anchor Bret Baier from the earliest moments of their interview Wednesday evening.
As Harris tried to answer Baier’s first question, he kept interrupting her before she had time to complete three full sentences.
And so it went throughout the almost 30-minute interview, with the pair frequently talking over each other. Baier’s questions were tough, and, while occasionally fair, he more often demanded she answer for talking points of Republican candidate Donald Trump’s campaign.
Baier kept asking Harris if she owed three families of Americans killed by what he called illegal immigrants an apology, a clear double standard: Would a Fox questioner ever ask Trump to apologize for anything? (Maybe Jan. 6? For taking top secret documents? For sending early covid test machines to Russian leader Vladimir Putin?) Seems unlikely.
Did Harris dodge some questions? Of course she did. All politicians do. But she didn’t wilt or fold under persistent, uncomfortable questioning. And she didn’t take the bait when Baier asked if Harris thought those supporting Trump are “stupid.” Harris, avoiding a rerun of Hillary Clinton’s “deplorables” description of Trump supporters, calmly replied, “I would never say that about the American people.”
Presumably, Harris went on Fox news to show courage and her willingness to engage with what she knew would be difficult questions, something her opponent has been unwilling to do, refusing an interview with “60 Minutes” and canceling a scheduled interview with CNBC.
Going on Fox also gave Harris an opportunity to expose Fox viewers to elements of the presidential campaign they might not have heard much about if their TV news diet consists solely of Fox News.
She brought up Trump’s description of Americans who oppose him as “the enemy within.” Baier said Trump was asked about that during what FNC billed as an all-woman town hall Wednesday and played a clip of Trump’s response, in which he claimed he was “not threatening anybody.”
“Bret, I’m sorry, and with all due respect, that clip was not what he has been saying about the ‘enemy within’ when he was speaking about the American people,” Harris said. “You and I both know that he has talked about turning the American military on the American people. He has talked about going after people who are engaged in peaceful protest. He has talked about locking people up because they disagree with him.”
Harris also used the Fox News interview to clean up her previous response to a question on “The View” last week when she said there was “not a thing” she would have done differently than Biden, a gaffe that gave her political opponent a soundbite to use in negative campaign ads.
“Let me be very clear: My presidency will not be a continuation of Joe Biden’s presidency. Like every new president that comes into office, I will bring my life experiences, my professional experiences, and fresh and new ideas. I represent a new generation of leadership,” Harris said, adding she hasn’t spent the majority of her career in Washington, D.C., and she invites ideas from Republicans who support her and those in the business sector “who can contribute to the decisions that I make.”
Fox News described the interview as Harris’ first sit-down interview with the conservative-leaning channel. It was not the first time a Democratic presidential candidate has appeared on Fox News, but it has been a while. Per the New York Times, Joe Biden did an interview with Fox News during the Democratic primary in 2020 but not in his presidential run; Hillary Clinton was interviewed by Chris Wallace on Fox News in 2016 during her campaign for the White House.
After the interview, Fox News talent showered Baier with plaudits for his interview that focused almost entirely on events of the past. Even though Harris did her best to mention policy proposals for the future, Fox News’ Martha MacCallum complained, “We didn’t get a clear, ‘Who are you? What do you stand for? What would America look like under a Kamala Harris economy?’ ”
Maybe Baier should have asked those future-looking questions if that was the kind of responses his colleagues wanted to hear.
Was the risk of going on the channel worth it for Harris? Perhaps we’ll have a clearer answer after Nov. 5.
NFL family drama in the works
Last week’s announcement that “This is Us” creator Dan Fogelman will create a family drama series for Hulu that “takes place in the NFL and has a generational family component,” per Variety, got me thinking: Fogelman grew up partially in Bethel Park, set “This is Us” partially in Pittsburgh and got to know the Steelers organization through that NBC drama. That all makes me wonder: Could the family at the center of the Hulu series be a Rooney-like family? We shall see.
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Muralist’s work in ‘Starting Five’
A mural of Miami Heat NBA player Jimmy Butler created by Wilkinsburg native artist Kyle Holbrook is featured in Netflix’s “Starting Five,” a docuseries on basketball stars Butler, LeBron James, Anthony Edwards, Domantas Sabonis and Jayson Tatum.
Holbrook’s mural, in Miami on the Pinnacle Housing building, is shown several times during the 10-episode series that’s now streaming.
Kept/canceled
Apple TV ordered a six-episode sixth season of “Slow Horses” just a week after Season 4’s conclusion.
Netflix canceled “Unstable” after two seasons.
National Geographic Channel canceled “Life Below Zero” and all its spin-off shows, per RealityBlurred.com.
Channel surfing
Pittsburgh native Michael Keaton hosts “Saturday Night Live” this weekend (11:30 p.m. Saturday, WPXI-TV). … Comedian Anthony Jeselnik, a 1997 graduate of Upper St. Clair High School, stars in a new Netflix special, “Bones and All,” premiering Nov. 26. … After losing the NBA, TNT and truTV will televise (and Max will stream) more than 45 regular-season games from professional women’s 3-on-3 basketball league Unrivaled beginning Jan. 17. … ABC added more simulcasts of ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” this fall, bumping “What Would You Do?” to 10 p.m. Wednesday and delaying the premieres of “Celebrity Wheel of Fortune,” “Press Your Luck” and docuseries “Scamanda” to 2025.