Vice President Kamala Harris is sitting down for an interview with Fox News anchor Bret Baier this week as her campaign aims to win over Republicans who may not be a fan of former President Donald Trump.
Baier will interview Harris on Wednesday in Pennsylvania, a swing state where polls point to a dead-even race between Harris and Trump just three weeks before Election Day. This will be Harris’ first interview on the network, viewed by many as more friendly to conservatives.
Harris has sought to win over disaffected Republican voters, staking out more centrist positions on issues like immigration and foreign policy. She has also touted her support from Republicans like former Representative Liz Cheney on the campaign trail. The interview will give her the opportunity to present her ideas to a more conservative-leaning audience.
As the network’s chief political anchor, Baier at times provides analysis about the election. He has specifically provided thoughts on Harris’ media strategy but does not give his opinions on the merits of her policy as a straight-news journalist.
“What do I think of Vice President Harris’ strategy of avoiding the press so far? I think that it can’t last, and I think that eventually, there’s going to be a big interview,” he said during the Democratic National Convention in August. “I hope she comes on Special Report with me, and we’ve offered it many times. Eventually, she’s going to have to answer questions about her past statements and her past policies, and where she is now.”
Harris has ramped up her media appearances in the past few weeks. In addition to the Fox News interview, she has appeared on podcasts such as Call Her Daddy and The Shade Room, local media outlets in swing states and CBS News’ 60 Minutes. But she previously faced criticism for not doing more interviews.
Baier predicted that pressure for Harris to do more interviews was “building up” and that her first big interview would be “much bigger than it would have if she just did little interviews along the way” in his remarks at the convention.
Newsweek reached out to Fox News for comment via email.
After Fox News tried to hold a debate between Harris and Trump, Baier also said that it was Trump, not Harris, who was holding up the event.
“Now, his reasoning, don’t know,” Baier said. “I always thought that it would be like a bug zapper in the backyard for the former president in that he couldn’t get away from the light of 70 million viewers and that he would have to eventually, just knowing him, do it if it was on Fox and something he could agree to.”
In a September 10 post to X, formerly Twitter, Baier responded to a report that Harris’ issues page on her campaign website came directly from Biden’s campaign website by saying it reflects “the challenge for the Harris campaign trying to be the ‘change agent.'”
Baier also praised Harris’ choice of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate.
“He’s been on our shows. He’s not afraid to get—like [Trump’s running mate, Ohio Senator] JD Vance. He’s not afraid to go to different places. He’s not afraid to mix it up. He does speak in plain speak. He’s a former football coach former teacher. He has that appeal, that aspect,” he said.
Harris’ campaign in August shared a clip of Baier giving her “credit” for lowering some drug prices. In the clip shared to X, Baier said, “They have had success on big, specific medications, and bringing those prices down in negotiations.”
In 2021, Baier commented on Harris telling immigrants not to come to the U.S. amid an influx of migrant border crossings, saying on America Reports that her remarks were the difference between campaign and governing.
“Campaigning, candidate Kamala Harris went to the border numerous times and said she’s standing with the immigrants and standing with the migrants who she said are being targeted by the Trump administration, that they should be allowed in,” he said. “Now she makes a statement, ‘don’t come,’ you will get turned away at the border.”
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