Opinion: Harris did with Fox News what Trump can't do anywhere: Handle tough questions
Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris went into America’s Den of Misinformation – Fox News – for a Wednesday night interview that demonstrated two things:
She has far more guts than her opponent, Donald Trump.
Fox News remains an arm of the Republican Party.
For starters, Harris deserves credit for doing an interview she and her campaign had to know would be a string of “gotcha” questions and attempts to get her to say mean things about Trump supporters, a la Hillary Clinton’s infamous-but-accurate “basket of deplorables.”
Trump, by comparison, has cancelled a planned CNBC interview and refused to follow Harris’ lead and go on “60 Minutes,” preferring to do things like his Wednesday’s Fox News town hall where he was asked coddling questions before a room full of Trump supporters.
Fox News host Bret Baier constantly interrupted Kamala Harris in interview
So points go to Harris in the courage department, while Trump maintains his “weak man who pretends he’s tough” image.
Fox News host Bret Baier was the chosen questioner for Harris’ interview, and he behaved very much like a man with little respect for what a powerful woman has to say. His questions were pointed, which is fine, and he relentlessly asked follow-up question, which is also fine. But Baier barely let the sitting vice president get a word in edgewise, talking over her constantly throughout the interview, interrupting her over and over again.
What's true? What's false? Sign up for USA TODAY's Checking the Facts newsletter for all the answers.
Baier went after Harris with a persistence and viciousness his network has never come close to using on Trump.
Trump fans and his many minions at Fox News will undoubtedly say Harris failed miserably, but the truth, for people operating outside the bubble of insanity, is she more than held her own in a wildly adversarial situation.
Harris called out Fox News' disingenuous Trump clip
At one point Baier showed a clip – ironically from an earlier softball Fox News interview of Trump – in which the former president tried to downplay his recent unhinged ramblings about how Americans who don’t support him are “the enemy from within.”
Harris swiftly called Baier out: “I’m sorry and, with all due respect, that clip was not what he has been saying about the enemy within, that he has repeated when he’s speaking about the American people. That’s not what you just showed.”
Opinion: Trump concocts a racist, dystopian version of America only he can save us from
Would Fox ever ask Trump questions like these? Of course not.
During her answer to the interview’s first question, Baier interrupted Harris six times, incessantly talking over her.
Opinion: An abortion ban killed her. Trump used Fox town hall to mock her grieving family.
The questions were justifiably tough, and the vice president absolutely dodged several of the harder callouts on the Biden administration’s immigration policies. But what the interview showed is Harris can more than hold her own in a wildly hostile environment, something most people already knew but Fox News viewers willing to be honest with themselves probably were surprised to see.
Above all, though, what matters is Harris sat there and took it. She went into a Fox News interview – which in and of itself is a sign her campaign is confident and is looking to expand her reach to conservative and independent voters – and she didn’t storm out. She didn’t whine about or insult the interviewer for asking tough questions.
That’s a lot more than anyone can say about Donald Trump.
Follow USA TODAY columnist Rex Huppke on X, formerly Twitter, @RexHuppke and Facebook facebook.com/RexIsAJerk
You can read diverse opinions from our USA TODAY columnists and other writers on the Opinion front page, on X, formerly Twitter, @usatodayopinion and in our Opinion newsletter.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Opinion: Harris bests Trump and holds her own in loaded Fox interview