In a contentious interview with Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, Fox News host Bret Baier spent no time going after the vice president with a laundry list of the subjects often highlighted by former President Donald Trump on the campaign trail.
Immediately after the interview kicked off, Baier opened by asking: “How many illegal immigrants would you estimate your administration has released into the country over the last three and a half years?”
Harris began a carefully worded answer, but Baier consistently interrupted her before she could finish a sentence.
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“It’s a rough estimate of 6 million people have been released into the country,” Baier insisted.
“Let me just finish and I will get to the question, I promise you,” an irritated Harris said. “I was beginning to answer.”
Harris deflected by blaming Trump for the downfall of the bipartisan border security bill that was defeated in Congress in May. But Baier also pressed Harris on the deaths of Jocelyn Nungaray, Rachel Morin, and Laken Riley, three murder victims whose suspected killers crossed the border during Biden’s presidency, before the bill was negotiated.
He then played a clip of Nungaray’s mother blaming the Biden-Harris administration for her daughter’s death.
When asked if she owes their families an apology, Harris replied: “I’m so sorry for her loss. I’m so sorry for her loss. Sincerely.”
In a strange turn, Baier then questioned the vice president about her policy on gender-affirming surgery for federal prisoners, and played a Trump campaign ad that accused Harris of supporting “taxpayer funded sex changes for prisoners.”
Harris accused her rival’s campaign of throwing stones in glass houses, noting that the policy had been in place during the Trump administration.
“I will follow the law. And it’s a law that Donald Trump actually followed. You’re probably familiar with, now it’s a public report that under Donald Trump’s administration, these surgeries were available on a medical necessity basis to people in the federal prison system.”
Baier pointed out that the Trump campaign denies any gender confirmation surgeries took place during his presidency. In 2022, a judge’s order paved the way for the first federal prisoner to get gender-affirming surgery after a four-year long legal battle.
Harris refused to answer if she would still support funding transgender care for federal prisoners, instead accusing the Trump campaign of focusing on an issue that is “really quite remote.”
The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, who represented the first inmate, said there were about 1,200 other federal inmates in need of gender-affirming care. There are currently 158,892 federal inmates, according to the Bureau of Prisons most recent data.
Harris notably refused to answer Baier’s needling on when she noticed President Biden was declining “mental faculties,” instead repeatedly insisting “Joe Biden is not on the ballot. And Donald Trump is.”
Harris spent most of the interview trying to sell the Fox host on the idea that Americans were ready to move on from Trump. When Baier pointed out that Democrats have held the presidency for the last three-and-a-half years, she explained that she meant “turning the page from the last decade in which we have been burdened with the kind of rhetoric coming from Donald Trump.”
But Baier seemed to cite Trump’s popularity with the Republican electorate as proof this was not the case. “Why, if he is as bad as you say that half of this country is now supporting this person who could be the 47th president of the United States?” Later following that up with “are they misguided, the 50%? Are they stupid?”
“Oh God, I would never say that about the American people,” Harris said before referencing Trump’s recent comments about using the military on Democrats—who he called “the enemy within.”
Kamala Harris spars with Bret Baier during an interview on Fox News.
Fox NewsBaier played a clip of Trump dismissing this criticism at a town hall event earlier the same day, instead accusing the Democrats of threatening him with “phony investigations” and the “weaponization of government.”
But Harris was indignant. “Bret, I’m sorry, that is not what he has been saying about the ‘enemy within’ that he has repeated when speaking about the American people,” Harris said. “That’s not what you just showed.”
“Here’s the bottom line, he has repeated it many times,” Harris said after further back-and-forth with the Fox host. “You and I both know that and 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 protests. He has talked about locking people up because they disagree with him.”
The two continued to argue past one another for the rest of the interview. “I hope you got to say what you wanted to say about Donald Trump,” Baier said while trying to conclude the 30-minute interview.
The two continued to argue past one another for the rest of the interview.
“I hope you got to say what you wanted to say about Donald Trump,” Baier said while trying to conclude the 30-minute interview.
“There’s more to say. I have a lot more to say,” Harris interjected.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
