Kamala Harris faced a grilling on Fox News, with host Brett Baier pressing the vice-president on immigration, the economy and the Biden administration in a 30-minute interview on Wednesday night.
The Democratic candidate’s first appearance on the conservative network formed part of a direct appeal to right-leaning voters, after she was joined by more than 100 Republicans at a campaign event in Pennsylvania earlier in the day.
The interview was combative, with Harris, towards the end, speaking over Baier as she asked him to interview her “grounded in full assessment of the facts”, while calling him out for playing clips that she said were not relevant to what they were discussing.
Here are the key takeaways:
Immigration
Harris was asked about the Biden administration’s efforts to tackle a surge in illegal immigration at the southern border, and laid the blame on Republicans for failing to pass a border bill.
Harris was asked to defend the administration’s early decision to reverse some of Republican rival Donald Trump’s restrictive policies, and to respond to a mother who testified in Congress about the loss of her child at the hands of an illegal immigrant.
“I’m so sorry for her loss, but let’s talk about what is happening right now,” Harris said.
Harris said Trump told Republicans to reject a bipartisan immigration bill because “he preferred to run on a problem instead of fixing a problem.”
The Biden-Harris record
Harris was questioned over her recent comment that there was “not a thing” she would change about the actions of the Biden administration, responding: “let me be very clear, my presidency will not be a continuation of Joe Biden’s presidency,” but she did not elaborate.
Harris was asked when she first noticed that Biden’s “mental faculties appeared diminished”, but the vice-president responded by saying that the president had the judgment and experience to do what needs to be done on behalf of the American people.
She added that the people who knew Trump best have said he is unfit to be president ever again, adding: “Joe Biden is not on the ballot and Donald Trump is.”
The Middle East
Harris singled out Iran when asked which foreign country she considers to be America’s greatest adversary. Baier questioned whether the Biden-Harris administration was “acting like Iran is the number one threat”.
The vice-president said she had worked with the heads of the military to do what America must always do, which is to allow Israel to have the resources to defend itself from attack, “including from Iran and Iran’s terrorist proxies in the region. And my commitment to that is unwavering”.
Pushing back against Baier’s line of questioning, Harris at one point said, “I would like if we could have a conversation that is grounded in a full assessment of the facts.”
Donald Trump
Of Trump, Harris said, “People are exhausted with someone who professes to be a leader and who spends full-time demeaning and engaging in personal grievances.”
She added, “He’s not stable.”
She also sought to focus Fox viewers on Trump’s talk of “the enemy within” and threats to punish political rivals.
Harris was also pressed on her position on using taxpayer funds for gender-affirming surgery for transgender inmates, including those who are undocumented. Trump has spent millions of dollars on ads on the subject in battleground states.
“I will follow the law,” she said, but noted that the US Bureau of Prisons provided gender-affirming treatments under Trump. She accused him of “throwing stones when you live in a glass house”.
