Last night's interview went so badly for Kamala Harris that the predictable spin from the Left started during the debacle. Bret Baier is rude! Baier is interrupting a woman! Baier is conducting an ambush interview! That one amused me the most, since Harris and her team arranged the interview as well as the time and place, and agreed not to set limits on the questions.
Plus, of course, this went out nearly live and without any editing whatsoever. That already makes it far more transparent than the CBS News and 60 Minutes interview, where editors swapped answers to rather mundane questions to make Harris look smarter. That hackery got overlooked in the outrage of demanding specific answers to specific questions from a sitting officeholder and presidential candidate, to the amusement of CNBC's Joe Kernen:
Cool? Not sure that cool is the right word, but it certainly was instructive. And so is the reaction to an actual interview on policies and outcomes for an incumbent candidate running on the record of the current administration. That may, in fact, be one reason that the source here is a former Fox producer.
However, let's explore Baier's performance last night in the interview. This morning, I asked Twitter users whether Fox News had yet produced the transcript, and a few people responded that the interview had been aired uncut. That wasn't my purpose in asking, however. I wanted to review Baier's questions to assess whether he had engaged in "hackery," used political arguments rather than facts, or engaged in personal attacks.
With thanks to FNC's Special Report with Bret Baier, who also granted permission to use the front-page image, here is every question asked by Baier in their rush transcript. Let's assess these for substance and fairness on a firm evidentiary basis rather than spin and desperation:
BAIER: Voters tell pollsters all over the country and here in Pennsylvania that immigration is one of the key issues that they're looking at this election, and, specifically, the influx of illegal immigrants from more than 150 countries. How many illegal immigrants would you estimate your administration has released into the country over the last 3.5 years?
BAIER: Yes, but do you -- just a number. Do you think it's one million, three million?
BAIER: So, your homeland security secretary said that 85 percent of apprehensions...
BAIER: It's a rough estimate of six million people have been released into the country. And let me just finish. I will get to the question. I promise you.
BAIER: And when you came into office, your administration immediately reversed a number of Trump border policies, most significantly, the policy that required illegal immigrants to be detained through deportation either in the U.S. or in Mexico. And you switched that policy. They were released from custody awaiting trial. So, instead, included in those were a large number of single men, adult men who went on to commit heinous crimes. So, looking back, do you regret the decision to terminate remain-in-Mexico at the beginning of your administration?
BAIER: Yes, ma'am. It was called the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021.
BAIER: It was essentially a pathway to citizenship for the...
BAIER: But here -- but this...
BAIER: You had the White House and the House and the Senate, and they didn't bring up that bill.
BAIER: Madam Vice President, a couple of things --
BAIER: Six Democrats --
BAIER: Six Democrats voted against that bill.
BAIER: Six democrats voted against that bill. It would've allowed 1.8 million illegal immigrants into the country a year. A lot of conservatives had a problem with it. These are the six Democrats. But more importantly, back to the original premise, Jocelyn Nungaray, Rachel Morin, Laken Riley, they are young women who were brutally assaulted and killed by some of the men who were released at the beginning of the administration, well before a negotiated bipartisan bill. Former President Clinton actually referred to Laken Riley Sunday, campaigning for you in Georgia, saying if those men had been properly vetted, Laken Riley probably would not have been killed. So, if it wouldn't have happened, this is well before any negotiation, this is well before Donald Trump got involved in the politics, this is a specific policy decision by your administration to release these men into the country. So, what I'm saying to you, do you owe those families an apology?
BAIER: Madam Vice President, it was a policy decision in the early part of your administration. I will let one of the mothers talk about it. Take a listen.
BAIER: That's the early days. So, do you owe them an apology is what I'm saying?
BAIER: But do you want to answer --
BAIER: During that time, you said, repeatedly, that the border was secure. When in your mind did it start becoming a crisis?
BAIER: There were 90-plus executive orders that were rescinded in the first days. Many of those were Trump border policies. I'm not going to stay here because there's other things to talk about. But you frequently -- where (ph) you talked to the Border Patrol Union for support of that bipartisan bill and they did. They supported it. But they also just endorsed Donald Trump and said you've been, quote, a failure with border security. Why do you think they said that?
BAIER: There's a lot of people that look back at what you said at 2019 when you first ran for president. And there have been changes and you've talked about some of them. When it comes to immigration, you supported allowing immigrants in the country illegally to apply for driver's license, to qualify for free tuition at universities, to be enrolled in free healthcare. Do you still support those things?
BAIER: You -- if that's the case, you chose a running mate, Tim Walz, who -- governor of Minnesota -- who signed those very things into state law. So do you support that?
BAIER: So decriminalizing border crossings like you said in 2019?
BAIER: So these are evolutions that you've had.
BAIER: This is a time when voters, especially here in Pennsylvania, are inundated with commercials and ads. They just want it to stop because it's every commercial. But many of them add noise but a few of them seem to break through. This particular one from the Trump campaign has gotten a lot of attention.
BAIER: So, are you still in support of using taxpayer dollars to help prison inmates or detained illegal aliens to transition to another gender?
BAIER: The Trump aides say that he never advocated for that prison policy and no gender transition surgery happened during his presidency.
BAIER: No surgeries happened in this presidency.
BAIER: Would you still advocate for using taxpayer dollars for gender reassignment surgeries?
BAIER: You have a say in this.
BAIER: You would have a say as president.
BAIER: They say it was different. And let's -- we'll move on.
BAIER: Why do you think that people said --
BAIER: Why do you think more people say...
BAIER: Why do you -- why do you think more people say they trust him on the economy than they trust you?
BAIER: It's interesting you said turn the page, Madam Vice President.You were asked on two different shows last week what, if anything, you would do differently than President Biden. Here's what you said.
BAIER: So you're not Joe Biden, you're not Donald Trump, but nothing comes to mind that you would do differently?
BAIER: We have heard a lot about those plans in recent days. Your campaign slogan is a new way forward and it's time to turn the page. You have been vice president for 3.5 years, so what are you turning the page from?
BAIER: But you -- Madam Vice President...
BAIER: Madam Vice President, more than 70 percent of people tell pollsters...
BAIER: More than 70 percent of people tell -- the country is on the wrong track. They say the country is on the wrong track. If it's on the wrong track, that track follows 3.5 years of you being vice president and President Biden being president. That is what they're saying, 79 percent of them. Why are they saying that? If you're turning the page, you have been in office for 3.5 years.
BAIER: But you have been the person holding the office, Madam Vice President.
BAIER: I actually don't. What are you talking about?
BAIER: But you're the lever of power.
BAIER: If that's the case, if that's the case, why is half the country supporting him? Why is he beating you in a lot of swing states? Why, if he's 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? Why is that happening?
BAIER: So, are they misguided, the 50 percent? Are they stupid? What is it?
BAIER: Well, he was asked about that specific --
BAIER: No, no, no. I'm telling you that was the question that we asked him.
BAIER: He's quoted in the Bob Woodward book that way. Yes. Let me ask you this, Madam Vice President. You call Donald Trump --
BAIER: You call Donald Trump, he's misguided. You say now --
BAIER: -- he is unstable.
BAIER: He's not well. You say he's mentally not stable.
BAIER: Let me ask you this --
BAIER: -- you told many interviewers that Joe Biden was on his game that ran around circles on his staff. When did you first notice that President Biden's mental faculties appeared diminished?
BAIER: There were no concerns raised?
BAIER: But you talked about it.
BAIER: After George Clooney said, within a few minutes of talking to President Biden at a fundraiser that he thought this was not the same Joe Biden that we saw on the debate stage.
BAIER: I understand. You met with him at least once a week for three and a half years. You didn't have any concerns?
BAIER: Madam Vice President, two more things. You were asked on 60 Minutes about the biggest threat that the world faces, that the U.S. faces. This is what you said.
BAIER: A number of expert -- experts thought you would say China. The FBI director had said that. But you said Iran. If that's the case, what do you say to critics who look at the actions of your administration and say you're not acting like Iran is the number one threat?
BAIER: But those proxies were getting funded by Iran.
BAIER: Critics just say that you either relaxed or failed to enforce sanctions on Iran, allowing all of this money to flow into Iran like billions of oil profits --
BAIER: But here are the estimates in billions --
BAIER: -- that go towards the regime.
BAIER: Madam Vice President, all this money that has gone in the past few years --
BAIER: Critics say that it goes to Hezbollah, Hamas and Houthis.
BAIER: We're talking over each other, I apologize.
BAIER: But you're not --
BAIER: Yes, ma'am, and we --
BAIER: And there are critics who look at what the administration did and say and think differently. Madam Vice President, they're wrapping me very hard here. I hope you got to say what you wanted to say about Donald Trump, there are a lot of things that --
BAIER: There are a -- there are a lot of things that people want to learn about you and your policies.
BAIER: And that's why we invited you here.
BAIER: To see where you were in 2019 and where you are now.
BAIER: Madam Vice President, they're giving me a hard wrap here.
BAIER: I thank you for the time.
BAIER: Thank you very much.
First off ... yes, this is a tedious exercise, but it has a purpose. Critics of Baier need to look at this list and find the questions that are not appropriate to ask a presidential candidate, especially an incumbent in the current White House for the last three-plus years. Every single question here relates to either Harris' publicly stated positions over the past five years, the policies and performance of the Biden-Harris White House, and what she would do if elected president. There isn't a personal-scandal or gotcha question in this; every single question -- and that includes the question of Biden's cognitive decline, which is the reason Harris is the nominee -- is substantive and fair.
Those who claim Baier conducted hackery in his questions, and his efforts to pin down a sitting VP and major-party presidential nominee for the answers, needs to explain how any of these questions are unfair, let alone a significant number of them. That explanation has to include the context of Harris' strategy for doing the interview in the first place, which was ostensibly to appeal to the Fox News audience by discussing the issues that matter to them.
Baier's critics aren't operating out of principle by casting him as a hack. They're reacting out of desperation from having seen that Harris can't answer even basic questions about what she believes or why people should support her.
Addendum: Here is the substantive answer that Harris gave to most of these questions. I counted 21 mentions of Trump in 26 minutes by Harris in the transcript.
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