Kamala Harris mentioned her presidency “would not be a continuation of Joe Biden’s presidency” in a testy interview with the rightwing Fox Information channel on Wednesday night time as she criticized Donald Trump over his persevering with threats towards “the enemy within”.
The 25-minute interview, carried out after Harris held a rally with greater than 100 Republican officers in Pennsylvania, was the primary time Harris had sat for a dialog with Fox Information, which has been a constant supporter of Trump.
Bret Baier, Fox Information’s chief political anchor, is seen as a straight information counterbalance to the vitriol of Fox Information’s night reveals, however nonetheless got here with a laundry record of rightwing matters, together with immigration, the rights of transgender folks and Joe Biden’s efficiency, as Harris tried to promote herself to the channel’s older, largely Republican, viewers.
Harris was requested if there was something she “would do differently” from Joe Biden, as Baier performed a clip of the vice-president, in a earlier interview, saying there’s “not a thing that comes to mind” that she would have modified. That response has turn into an assault level amongst Republicans as they search to tie Harris to the unpopular Biden administration.
“Let me be very clear. My presidency will not be a continuation of Joe Biden’s presidency, and like every new president that comes into office, I will bring my life experiences, my professional experiences, and fresh new ideas. I represent a new generation of leadership,” Harris mentioned.
“For example, as someone who has not spent the majority of my career in Washington DC, I invite ideas: whether it be from the Republicans who are supporting me, who were just on stage with me minutes ago, and the business sector and others, who can contribute to the decisions that I make.”
Baier pointed to polling which reveals a majority of Individuals consider the nation is “on the wrong track”, and requested Harris why they have been saying that when she has been vice-president since January 2021. Harris urged the polls present a fatigue with Biden and Trump, given the latter has “been running for office” since 2016.
Harris famous that a number of high-profile former members of the Trump administration now consider “that he is unfit to serve, that he is unstable, that he is dangerous, and that people are exhausted with someone who professes to be a leader, who spends full time demeaning and engaging in personal grievances”.
Baier requested why, given these criticisms, Trump has help of “half the country”. He added: “Are they stupid?”
“I would never say that about the American people. And in fact, if you listen to Donald Trump, if you watch any of his rallies, he’s the one who tends to demean, and belittle, and diminish the American people,” Harris mentioned.
“He’s the one who talks about an enemy within. An enemy within, talking about the American people, suggesting he would turn the American military on the American people.”
Trump had appeared on a Fox Information city corridor episode which aired earlier on Wednesday, the place he doubled down on his feedback about “the enemy from within”. He characterised this alleged inside enemy, which he has mentioned ought to be “handled by” the army, as “the Pelosis” and his different political opponents.
The previous president had reacted furiously to the information that Baier could be interviewing Harris, posting on social media that the anchor was “often very soft to those on the ‘cocktail circuit’ left” and falsely claiming that Fox Information “has grown so weak and soft on the Democrats”.
However Baier, whereas being an alternate from the extra radical nighttime hosts akin to Sean Hannity and Jesse Watters, largely caught to rightwing points.
He performed a Trump marketing campaign advert, which he urged was among the many few political adverts to “break through” this 12 months. The advert quoted an interview with Harris in 2019, when she mentioned she supported “surgical care” for trans prisoners.
Trump has spent tens of tens of millions on anti-transgender promoting, however Harris dismissed the problem, stating that “under Donald Trump’s administration, these surgeries were available on a medical necessity basis, to people in the federal prison system”.
“And I think, frankly, that ad from the Trump campaign is a little bit of like throwing, you know, stones when you’re living in the glass house,” she mentioned.
Polls present Harris and Trump successfully tied in most swing states, as each campaigns search to persuade voters earlier than 5 November. Harris’s look on Fox Information got here amid a raft of interviews over the previous week. She was interviewed on CBS’s prestigious 60 Minutes information present, sat down with the group from The View talkshow, appeared on the Name Her Daddy podcast, and on Tuesday spoke with radio host Charlamagne tha God.
Harris can be reportedly in negotiations to seem on Joe Rogan’s podcast – the preferred podcast within the US, which has a big following amongst younger males. Trump, who refused to participate in a second debate on CNN with Harris, has mentioned he’ll seem on Rogan’s podcast.
This was Harris’ first sit-down interview with Fox Information, though her working mate, Tim Walz, has appeared on the community a number of instances. Pete Buttigieg, the transportation secretary, has been a daily presence on Fox Information screens, together with his calm responses to typically hostile questions continuously going viral and delighting Democrats.
