Fox News host Bret Baier faced a wave of criticism on social media for his aggressive approach during an interview with Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday. Baier frequently cut her off and talked over her as she tried to answer his questions, a performance that drew sharp reactions online. However, according to Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson, Harris might actually have Fox News to thank for the exchange.
Robinson argued that the tense, combative nature of the interview gave Harris a unique opportunity to showcase her strengths in a high-pressure environment. The interview, he wrote, “gave Harris the chance to display qualities — and present facts — that Donald Trump desperately wants to keep hidden from the network’s millions of viewers.”
The columnist pointed out that even Baier himself acknowledged Harris’s effectiveness after the interview. “Don’t take it from me; take it from Baier himself,” Robinson wrote. “He said afterward that he thought Harris came to the interview seeking ‘a viral moment’ and added: ‘I think she may have gotten that.'”
One of the most significant moments of the interview occurred when Baier and Harris clashed over former President Trump’s threats to use the military against his political opponents, whom he called “the enemy within.” Baier presented a selectively edited clip of Trump denying that he had made such remarks, which Harris quickly debunked. She pointed out that Trump has repeatedly used such inflammatory language and referenced retired Gen. Mark A. Milley, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who has stated that Trump is a threat to U.S. democracy and national security. Only after Harris firmly stated her case did Baier move on to another topic.
For months, Harris had been criticized for not granting enough interviews, but Robinson argued that she “came through in spades” by engaging with a reporter on Fox News, the nation’s largest right-leaning network. He described Baier’s role as “more of an inquisitor than an interviewer,” yet Harris managed to hold her ground and get her points across.
While hardcore Trump supporters may remain unmoved by the exchange, Robinson suggested that the real victory for Harris lies in how she may have appeared to Fox News viewers who are less politically engaged. Many of these viewers, Robinson noted, have been told repeatedly that Harris is unqualified and out of her depth. But in this interview, they saw a different side of her.
“If they watched the interview, they saw a woman whose policies they might not love but who has command of the issues, handles pressure with ease, and is nobody’s pushover,” Robinson wrote. “Those voters saw a viable alternative to four more years of Trump and his insanity.”
Robinson concluded by noting that the Harris campaign might want to send Baier a thank-you gift for giving her such a platform to prove her competence. “Some might think Baier was properly adversarial, others might think he was obnoxiously rude,” Robinson wrote. “Either way, the Harris campaign ought to send him flowers.”