Harris paints Trump as threat, draws contrast with Biden in combative Fox News interview

Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday hammered former President Donald Trump as thin-skinned and a threat to U.S. democracy in a combative interview with Fox News.

The interview marked an opportunity for Harris to appear on a network that frequently criticizes her and praises her opponent, a notable moment after Republicans had panned her for only granting interviews with friendly reporters or podcasters. True to form, the interview was testy throughout, including multiple exchanges in which Harris and Fox News anchor Bret Baier repeatedly spoke over each other.

Harris raised Trump’s recent rhetoric about the “enemy within” and threats to use the military to go after political opponents and supposed chaos on Election Day to suggest that he’s unfit for a second term in office, adding that it is “clear to me” that Trump is “unfit to serve, that he is unstable, that he is dangerous.”

“You and I both know that he has talked about turning the American military on the American people. He has talked about going after people who are engaged in peaceful protest. He has talked about locking people up because they disagree with him,” Harris told the Fox News host.

“This is a democracy, and in a democracy the president of the United States in the United States of America, should be willing to be able to handle criticism without saying he’d lock people up for doing it,” she said.

The remarks mark an escalation of her rhetoric describing Trump as dangerous for the country as he escalates his rhetoric about internal threats from Americans, including “radical left lunatics,” raising concerns about how he’d use the military in a future administration.

Not a continuation of Joe Biden’s presidency: Harris

Harris also attempted to flesh out the differences Americans would see between President Joe Biden’s administration and her theoretical term in the White House, offering several examples after Republicans seized on her answer on ABC’s “The View” last week that “not a thing that comes to mind” when asked what she would have done something differently from Biden over the past four years.

“You’re not Joe Biden, you’re not Donald Trump, but, but nothing comes to mind that you would do differently?” Baier asked.

“My presidency will not be a continuation of Joe Biden’s presidency, and like every new president that comes into office, I will bring my life experiences, my professional experiences, and fresh and new ideas,” she told Baier.

Harris specifically raised her plans to offer increased housing assistance to first-time home buyers and provide funds to start small businesses.

Still, she added that her administration would mark a turning of the page from what she called the divisiveness of the Trump era in U.S. politics.

“You have been vice president for three and a half years, so, what are you turning the page from?” Baier asked

Her election would mark a change, she said, “from the last decade in which we have been burdened with the kind of rhetoric coming from Donald Trump that has been designed and implemented to divide our country and have Americans literally point fingers at each other.”

Pressed on immigration

Baier also pressed Harris on immigration and high levels of border crossings for much of the Biden administration.

Harris did not directly respond to a question about how many undocumented immigrants were released into the country, instead panning Trump for opposing a bipartisan plan that would have beefed up border security. She did, however, express sympathy for families who had loved ones killed by those who crossed the border illegally.

“Those are tragic cases. There’s no question about that. There is no question about that, and I can’t imagine the pain that the families of those victims have experienced for a loss that should not have occurred,” Harris said.

“So, that is true. It is also true that if border security had actually been passed nine months ago, it would be nine months that we would have had more border agents at the border, more support for the folks who are working around the clock trying to hold it all together to ensure that no future harm would occur,” she said.

Transgender transition for inmates

Harris also pushed back when asked about Trump ads in battleground states hitting her for taxpayer dollars being spent on transgender transition procedures for inmates.

“I will follow the law and it’s a law that Donald Trump actually followed. You’re probably familiar with – now it’s a public report that under Donald Trump’s administration, these surgeries were available to – on a medical necessity basis – to people in the federal prison system,” Harris said. “And I think, frankly, that ad from the Trump campaign is a little bit of like throwing, you know, stones when you are living in a glass house.”

Afterward, aboard Air Force Two, Brian Fallon, the Harris campaign communications director, spoke to reporters about her interview.

“I think there’s a good number of independents and Haley-style Republicans who are very open to voting for VP Harris, and that’s why we are open to doing events with Republicans and on Fox News,” he said.

“We feel like we definitely achieved what we set out to achieve, in the sense that she was able to reach an audience that has probably been not exposed to the arguments that she’s been making on the trail, and she also got to show her toughness in standing tall against a hostile interviewer,” Fallon said.