Key lines from Kamala Harris vs. Fox News

Analysis by Zachary B. Wolf, CNN

(CNN) — Vice President Kamala Harris has not submitted to many interviews with journalists during her short presidential campaign, and certainly none with conservative media.

In fact, when she sat down with Fox News’ Bret Baier for nearly a half-hour on Wednesday, it was her first interview with the conservative network, part of a concerted effort to reinvigorate her campaign in the final sprint to Election Day and reach out to Fox News watchers leery of a vote for former President Donald Trump.

The interview got off to a hot start with an exchange on immigration that went on for some time. Baier, continually interrupting, tried to get Harris to put a number on how many undocumented immigrants have been released into the country, while Harris instead tried to frame immigration as a larger problem that needs to be addressed.

BAIER: So, your Homeland Security secretary said that 85% of apprehensions …

HARRIS: Well, I’m not – but I’m not finished. I’m not finished. We have – but we have an immigration system that needs to be fixed.

BAIER: It’s a rough estimate of 6 million people have been released into the country. And let me just finish. I will get to the question. I promise you.

HARRIS: I was beginning to answer.

Harris pointed out that President Joe Biden’s White House offered up an immigration bill as its first legislative proposal after taking office in 2021. Baier countered the House and Senate, then both controlled by Democrats, didn’t consider the bill.

Harris pivoted to talking about a more recent bipartisan effort to pass a new immigration law that was torpedoed in Congress by opposition from Trump.

Baier also asked if she’d like to apologize to three women, including Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, who were killed by undocumented immigrants in recent years. Harris responded first with sympathy but no apology:

But then Harris added on:

Baier interrupted Harris to play video of Alexis Nungaray, whose 12-year-old daughter, Jocelyn Nungaray, was killed in Houston. The suspects, who have been charged with murder, are both Venezuelan and were in the US illegally. Nungaray says her daughter is dead because the men were not detained at the border.

BAIER: So, do you owe them an apology is what I’m saying?

HARRIS: I will tell you that I am so sorry for her loss. I am so sorry for her loss. Sincerely. But let’s talk about what is happening right now with an individual (Trump) who does not want to participate in solutions. Let’s talk about that as well, in all fairness.

Baier continued to hammer away on immigration, a top issue for many voters, particularly Republican and Republican-leaning voters. He asked when Harris, who at the outset of the Biden administration would say the border was secure, began to realize there was a problem. She said the immigration system and the border have been broken for multiple presidencies.

Baier asked why the border agents union is supporting Trump. Harris responded:

Despite her prior position of being open to decriminalizing undocumented border crossings as a Democratic presidential primary candidate in 2019, Harris said she does not support that now.

When Baier asked if this was an evolution in her thinking, Harris pointed to her record as a prosecutor taking on transnational criminal organizations.

From immigration, Baier pivoted to the wedge topic of gender. He noted that Trump’s supporters have invested heavily in commercials that show Harris, again during that 2019 Democratic primary and in comments unearthed by CNN’s KFile, expressing a willingness to enable prisoners who need gender-reassignment surgery to obtain it.

BAIER: So, are you still in support of using taxpayer dollars to help prison inmates or detained illegal aliens to transition to another gender?

Harris had clearly prepared for this question and responded by pointing at federal law in place during the Trump administration:

Baier said Trump didn’t advocate for that law and that no gender-transition surgeries occurred during his presidency.

She’s right. That’s the cruel reality for presidents. It’s also going to be true for her as she defends the Biden administration’s economic and immigration record on Fox News. Harris said the ads about gender reassignment for prisoners, something that does not affect many voters, is a distraction.

Baier played clips of Harris saying she would not change anything in Biden’s presidency and asked how hers would be different.

Harris said most of her career has been outside of Washington and she will invite ideas from Republicans in office and focus on housing and small businesses.

There was an extended exchange on Harris’ argument that her campaign represents an opportunity for Americans to “turn the page.” Baier pointed out she’s been in the current administration for more than three years. She said it would be a shift from the era in which Trump loomed over politics.

Baier interrupted her to point out that more than 70% of Americans in some polling say the country is on the “wrong track.” Isn’t part of that the Biden administration? Harris had been at an event with Republicans who are supporting her campaign, and she said exhaustion is bipartisan and it has to do with Trump.

Why, then, Baier asked, does about half the country support Trump?

To which Baier tried to get her to insult the people who support Trump. “Are they misguided, the 50%? Are they stupid? What is it?”

That was a reference to Trump’s recent insistence that the threat from Democrats, whom he calls the “enemy from within,” is greater than the threat from China or foreign actors. Baier played a short clip of Trump that seemed to downplay those words, but Trump has repeated them several times.

Baier then turned to Harris’ recent argument that Trump is unstable, a flip of the script after earlier in the year when Republicans were attacking Biden for not being fit for another four years in office.

To which Baier asked, “When did you first notice that President Biden’s mental faculties appeared diminished?” It was a question that seemed to shock Harris, whose jaw dropped. She then defended Biden as having the judgment and experience to make decisions. When Baier asked if there were concerns about Biden’s abilities raised, Harris said:

Harris said more people who worked with Trump in the White House have raised concerns about him.

After a brief exchange on foreign policy and how the US should keep Iran in check, the clock was ticking, and Baier started to wrap things up.

“Madam Vice President, they’re wrapping me very hard here,” he said, adding, “I hope you got to say what you wanted to say about Donald Trump, there are a lot of things that …”

But that was about it for the interview.

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