On Hostile Fox News, Harris Says Trump Unstable, Courts Republicans

Photo: Harris was interrupted constantly in a testy interview.

WASHINGTON CROSSING, PA (REUTERS) – Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris defended the Biden administration’s handling of illegal immigration blaming Republicans for failing to pass a border security bill in a combative television interview on October 15, where Fox News host Bret Baier kept interrupting her, unlike what the channel does and did with GOP candidate Donald Trump.

Harris and Baier frequently talked over each other and Harris grew visibly frustrated, but she delivered her message for the election to a conservative audience that might not often hear it.

She was asked to defend the administration’s early decision to reverse some of the restrictive border policies of Trump when he was president, she said Trump told Republicans to reject a bipartisan immigration bill early this year because “he preferred to run on a problem instead of fixing a problem.” Trump and Republicans have claimed that immigrants are fueling violent crime, although studies show immigrants commit crimes at lower rates than others.

At one point, Baier asked Harris what she made of so many Americans supporting Trump asking her, “Are they stupid?”

“Oh God, I would never say that about the American people,” she responded. “He’s the one who tends to demean and belittle and diminish the American people.”

Harris also pushed back forcefully when Baier playing to a Fox audience and possibly Trump himself, tried to move on from a question regarding Trump’s “enemy from within” remarks about his own rivals at home. Baier played a clip from a town hall during which Trump said, “I’m not threatening anybody.”

“That clip was not what he has been saying about the enemy from within … that’s not what you just showed,” Harris said forcefully pointing out the sleight of hand. “You didn’t show that and here is the bottom line, he has repeated it multiple times, and you and I both know that, and you and I both know he has talked about turning the military on the American people.”  With authority she declared, “This is a democracy.”

Asked about her recent comment that there was “not a thing” she would change about the actions of the Biden administration, Harris said, “Let me be very clear, my presidency will not be a continuation of Joe Biden’s presidency.”

She said she would bring in new ideas from Republicans and business leaders to solve housing shortages and expand small businesses.

Biden has the “judgment” and “experience” to be president, she said, while questioning Trump’s fitness for office. “Joe Biden is not on the ballot, and Donald Trump is,” Harris said.

The nearly 30-minute interview marked the first time Harris has appeared as a presidential candidate on the conservative media network, which often features opinion show hosts who mock her and other Democrats and tout Trump’s policies. Trump has not sat down with outlets he views as unfriendly.

Democrats said Harris went on unfriendly territory and made it through without any gaffes. Repeated interruptions kept Harris’s answers short, they said, preventing the meandering answers that she has been criticized for in the past.

“We feel like we definitely achieved what we set out to achieve,” said Brian Fallon, a Harris spokesperson. “She was able to reach an audience that has probably been not exposed to the arguments she’s been making on the trail, and she also got to show her toughness in standing tall against a hostile interviewer.”

Courting Republicans

The interview was part of a direct appeal by Harris to Republican voters. Before the Fox News interview, she highlighted Republican support for her campaign in a pivotal county in Pennsylvania, one of the handful of swing states likely to determine the election.

In Bucks County outside of Philadelphia, Harris emphasized Trump’s attempt to overturn his election loss four years ago, when he lost the White House to Biden.

“He refused to accept the will of the people and the results of a free and fair election. He sent a mob, an armed mob, to the United States Capitol, where they violently assaulted police officers, law enforcement officials and threatened the life of his own vice president,” Harris said.

Over 100 Republicans joined Harris in Bucks County, including Adam Kinzinger, a former congressman and member of the committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by supporters of then-President Trump.

“No matter your party, no matter who you voted for last time, there is a place for you in this campaign,” Harris said. She led Trump by a marginal 46% to 43% in a recent Reuters poll.

Harris has previously sought to court voters disillusioned by Trump. Former Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney, daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, this month urged voters to put country over party and vote for Harris, saying Trump was not fit to lead the U.S.

Biden beat Trump in Bucks County by about 17,000 votes in the 2020 election, while former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton beat Trump there in 2016 by fewer than 3,000 votes, according to county data.

This summer, Republicans overtook Democrats in the number of voter registrations in Bucks County for the first time in a generation. Republicans now have some 3,500 more voters in the county than Democrats, according to the latest data.