Kamala Harris spars with Bret Baier over immigration in Fox News interview

From its archetypal moments, the interrogation was contentious.

On Wednesday, United States Vice President Kamala Harris sat down for an interrogation with the conservative-leaning web Fox News, arsenic her run attempts to pull voters disenchanted with her Republican rival, Donald Trump.

But big Bret Baier wasted nary clip zeroing successful connected the absorption of their discussion: immigration.

He confronted her with a Trump run advertisement and a video of a bereaved mother, testifying to Congress astir the decease of her child, allegedly astatine the hands of 2 undocumented immigrants.

Harris, however, pointed retired that irregular migration crossed the US-Mexico borderline was a interest agelong earlier she was elected vice president successful 2021 — including nether Trump, a erstwhile president.

“I think, frankly, that advertisement from the Trump run is simply a small spot of throwing stones erstwhile you’re surviving successful a solid house,” Harris said successful effect to the Trump ad. “You’ve got to instrumentality work for what happened successful your administration.”

Vice President Kamala Harris waves astatine Trenton-Mercer airdrome successful Mercer County, New Jersey, earlier departing to Milwaukee connected Wednesday [Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo]

Immigration a apical issue

A canvass past week from the Pew Research Center recovered that voters successful the US ranked the system arsenic their apical contented arsenic they caput to the polls connected November 5.

But rounding retired the apical 5 elector issues was immigration, with 41 percent of those surveyed calling it “extremely important” and different 31 percent ranking it “very important”.

Immigration has been a salient pillar successful the platforms of some the Democratic and Republican parties, with some sides pledging to little irregular borderline crossings.

But the Pew survey recovered that Trump appears to person the borderline connected the subject, with 54 percent of respondents saying helium is champion capable to grip the country’s migration policies.

That is an vantage that Republicans person sought to press, arsenic the statesmanlike contention winds to a close, with little than 3 weeks to go.

Nevertheless, Trump and Harris person remained virtually tied successful wide elector polls nationwide. The canvass aggregator, 270toWin, recovered that Harris has a flimsy lead, with an mean of 49.5 percent to Trump’s 47.3 percent.

As she seeks to propulsion further ahead, Harris’s run has appealed to middle-ground voters, arsenic good arsenic Republicans fed up with Trump’s enactment implicit the party.

Part of her strategy has been to play up endorsements from salient Republicans similar erstwhile Vice President Dick Cheney and his daughter, erstwhile Representative Liz Cheney, a vocal professional of Trump’s connected Capitol Hill.

She has besides pledged to name a Republican to her furniture if she is elected to the presidency.

Earlier connected Wednesday, for instance, that strategy was connected afloat show successful Bucks County, Pennsylvania, wherever Harris touted the bipartisan quality of her run arsenic an antithesis to what she characterised arsenic Trump’s divisiveness.

“I americium joined contiguous by implicit 100 Republican leaders from crossed Pennsylvania and crossed our state who are supporting my candidacy for president of the United States,” she said to cheers from the crowd. “And I americium profoundly honoured to person their support.”

Heated interview

But her reception was overmuch chillier successful the Fox News studio, wherever Baier tore into her way grounds connected immigration.

His opening question chopped close to the thrust of his interview: “How galore amerciable immigrants would you estimation your medication has released into the state implicit the past 3 and a fractional years?”

The medication of outgoing President Joe Biden, nether whom Harris serves, has been persistently criticised for overseeing a spike successful irregular borderline crossings.

US Customs and Border Protection, for instance, noted a grounds 2,475,669 “encounters” on the US-Mexico borderline during the 2023 fiscal year, though its astir caller statistic person signalled a important diminution successful crossings.

Nevertheless, Biden has taken measures to restrict asylum entree to those crossing the borderline without authorisation.

“Bret, let’s conscionable get to the point,” Harris responded, arsenic she and Baier struggled to talk implicit 1 another. “The constituent is that we person a breached migration strategy that needs to beryllium repaired.”

She blamed Trump for scuttling a bipartisan migration measure successful January, which would person marked the archetypal broad betterment successful that country successful decades.

“They privation a president of the United States who is not playing governmental games with the contented but is really focused connected fixing it,” Harris said.

She besides played up her way grounds arsenic the “former lawyer wide of a borderline state”, prosecuting “trafficking of drugs, guns and quality beings”.

But Baier dogged Harris astir the precocious fig of borderline crossings nether the Biden medication — and the crimes helium alleged were a consequence.

Studies person consistently recovered undocumented immigrants perpetrate less convulsive crimes than US-born citizens. But members of the US right, peculiarly Trump and his moving mate JD Vance, person amplified unfounded fears that migrants are a wide menace to nationalist safety.

Baier besides raised a akin argument. “Jocelyn Nungaray, Rachel Morin, Laken Riley, they are young women who were brutally assaulted and killed,” Baier said, suggesting migration argumentation was to blame. “Do you beryllium those families an apology?”

“Let maine say, archetypal of all, that those were tragic cases. There’s nary question astir that,” Harris replied. “I can’t ideate the symptom that the families of those victims person experienced for a nonaccomplishment that should not person occurred.”

“It is besides existent that, if a borderline information [bill] had been passed 9 months ago, it would beryllium 9 months that we would person had much borderline agents astatine the border.”

Distancing herself from Biden

Baier besides confronted Harris with the disapproval that, if elected, her medication would beryllium a continuation of Biden’s.

He noted that past week connected the speech amusement The View, Harris indicated she was successful lockstep with the outgoing president. When 1 panellist connected The View asked her if she would person done thing otherwise than Biden did, Harris responded: “There is not a happening that comes to mind.”

Harris was unequivocal successful her effect to Baier.

“Let maine beryllium precise clear. My presidency volition not beryllium a continuation of Joe Biden’s presidency,” she said. “And similar each caller president that comes into office, I volition bring my beingness experiences, my nonrecreational experiences and caller and caller ideas. I correspond a caller procreation of leadership.”

The 59-year-old Harris spent overmuch of her vocation arsenic a prosecutor, earlier rising up the ranks to go San Francisco’s territory lawyer successful 2002 and past California’s lawyer wide successful 2011.

Only successful 2017 did she get successful Washington, DC, to service arsenic a US senator, leaving her word aboriginal to go vice president. During Wednesday’s interview, she sought to crook that comparatively abbreviated acquisition to her advantage.

“I, for example, americium idiosyncratic who has not spent the bulk of my vocation successful Washington, DC. I invitation ideas, whether it beryllium from the Republicans who are supporting, who were conscionable connected signifier with maine minutes ago, and the concern assemblage and others who tin lend to the decisions that I make,” she said.

Baier himself faced disapproval aft the interview. One erstwhile Harris aide, Symone Sanders Townsend, denounced his enactment of questioning connected societal media afterwards.

“The interviewer wasn’t themselves,” she wrote. “Instead helium was rude, misleading and pulled questions consecutive retired of a proverbial Trump/Vance property release.”