Vice President Kamala Harris will sit down for her first interview with Fox News on Wednesday in the battleground state of Pennsylvania.
The interview with the Democratic presidential nominee, three weeks from Election Day, will be conducted by Fox News’ chief political anchor Bret Baier and air on the Wednesday episode of his 6 p.m. EDT show “Special Report.”
Even during her time as vice president and U.S. senator, Ms. Harris has never conducted a formal sit-down interview with Fox News, as the GOP-friendly network says Wednesday’s appearance will be her first.
Mr. Baier said on X that he did not agree to any preconditions to get the interview with Ms. Harris..
“No one has the questions ahead of time — except me. No topic is off the table,” he said. “And if there is any editing — it will be very minimal for timing and will be editorially the same question and answer.”
Republican nominee Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post that Ms. Harris “wisely” chose Mr. Baier’s show for “a much needed interview” because he is considered to be fair and balanced.
“I would have preferred seeing a more hard hitting journalist, but Fox has grown so weak and soft on the Democrats, constantly polluting the airwaves with unopposed Kamala Representatives, that it all doesn’t matter anymore,” he said. “Hopefully, the people will understand on November 5th, and Early Voting.”
Mr. Trump and his presidential campaign have criticized Ms. Harris for her media strategy, saying she is deliberately avoiding tough questions.
The Harris campaign has focused on more non-news outlets in its campaign outreach than previous candidates, including the 2020 COVID-lockdown campaign of President Biden. But she has still done some interviews recently such as the traditional presidential candidate interview with “60 Minutes.”
Mr. Trump, who declined the CBS program over what happened with that interview in 2020, wrote in a Truth Social post earlier Monday that CBS protected Ms. Harris this year by editing her answer to one of the questions about Israel.
“Also, she is slow and lethargic in answering even the easiest of questions. We just went through almost four years of that, we shouldn’t have to do it again!” he said, calling for Ms. Harris to pass a cognitive test.
Mr. Trump has not been interviewed by a mainstream media outlet in a month, Harris spokesman Ian Sams wrote on X.
“Meanwhile Harris is willing to even go on Fox,” he said.
Her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, also has appeared on Fox News’ Sunday morning political-talk shows each of the past two weeks.
Fox News offers Ms. Harris a platform to reach independent and Republican voters she needs to woo in key swing states like Pennsylvania.
Mr. Baier’s “Special Report” is “home to the largest and most politically diverse audience in cable news, averaging 2.3 million viewers,” Fox News boasted in a news release on the interview with Ms. Harris.
The network said more Democrats and independents tune in to Mr. Baier’s show than any other in its timeslot, including rivals on CNN and MSNBC.
• Lindsey McPherson can be reached at lmcpherson@washingtontimes.com.
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