Kamala Harris stated her presidency “wouldn’t 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 in opposition to “the enemy inside”.
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 exhibits, however nonetheless got here with a laundry listing of rightwing subjects, 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 in a different way” from Joe Biden, as Baier performed a clip of the vice-president, in a earlier interview, saying there may be “not a factor that involves thoughts” that she would have modified. That response has change into an assault level amongst Republicans as they search to tie Harris to the unpopular Biden administration.
“Let me be very clear. My presidency is not going to be a continuation of Joe Biden’s presidency, and like each new president that comes into workplace, I’ll carry my life experiences, my skilled experiences, and contemporary new concepts. I signify a brand new era of management,” Harris stated.
“For instance, as somebody who has not spent the vast majority of my profession in Washington DC, I invite concepts: whether or not it’s from the Republicans who’re supporting me, who have been simply on stage with me minutes in the past, and the enterprise sector and others, who can contribute to the choices that I make.”
Baier pointed to polling which exhibits a majority of People consider the nation is “on the incorrect monitor”, 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 working for workplace” since 2016.
Harris famous that a number of high-profile former members of the Trump administration now consider “that he’s unfit to serve, that he’s unstable, that he’s harmful, and that persons are exhausted with somebody who professes to be a pacesetter, who spends full time demeaning and fascinating in private grievances”.
Baier requested why, given these criticisms, Trump has assist of “half the nation”. He added: “Are they silly?”
“I’d by no means say that concerning the American folks. And actually, in the event you hearken to Donald Trump, in the event you watch any of his rallies, he’s the one who tends to demean, and belittle, and diminish the American folks,” Harris stated.
“He’s the one who talks about an enemy inside. An enemy inside, speaking concerning the American folks, suggesting he would flip the American navy on the American folks.”
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 inside”. He characterised this alleged inside enemy, which he has stated needs to be “dealt with by” the navy, as “the Pelosis” and his different political opponents.
The previous president had reacted furiously to the information that Baier can be interviewing Harris, posting on social media that the anchor was “typically very gentle to these on the ‘cocktail circuit’ left” and falsely claiming that Fox Information “has grown so weak and gentle on the Democrats”.
However Baier, whereas being another from the extra radical nighttime hosts similar 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 advertisements to “break by” this 12 months. The advert quoted an interview with Harris in 2019, when she stated she supported “surgical care” for trans prisoners.
Trump has spent tens of thousands and thousands on anti-transgender promoting, however Harris dismissed the problem, stating that “below Donald Trump’s administration, these surgical procedures have been accessible on a medical necessity foundation, to folks within the federal jail system”.
“And I feel, frankly, that advert from the Trump marketing campaign is a bit little bit of like throwing, you realize, stones if you’re dwelling within the glass home,” she stated.
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 also be reportedly in negotiations to look 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 stated 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 occasions. Pete Buttigieg, the transportation secretary, has been a daily presence on Fox Information screens, along with his calm responses to typically hostile questions ceaselessly going viral and delighting Democrats.
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