Vice President Kamala Harris’ combative interview on Fox News delivered an average of 7.8 million viewers Wednesday, the Democratic presidential nominee’s most-watched TV news appearance so far.
The Democratic presidential nominee’s conversation with the conservative-leaning network’s chief political anchor Bret Baier delivered the largest audience for his program, “Special Report,” since 2020, according to Nielsen data. (The preliminary figure was 7.1 million).
The audience also surpassed Harris’ interview on the CBS news magazine “60 Minutes,” which was watched by 5.7 million on Oct. 10, and her chat with anchor Dana Bash on CNN alongside running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, which drew 6.3 million viewers on Aug. 29.
Harris’ appearance was highly anticipated as she is subjected to negative commentary by the vast majority of Fox News commentators throughout the day.
Earlier on Wednesday, Tyrus, a professional wrestler who regularly appears on the Fox News programs “Gutfeld!” and “The Five,” predicted that Harris’ Republican opponent former President Trump is on track for one of the largest electoral vote victories in history, even though nearly every poll shows the two candidates are in a tight race.
Harris’ performance on “Special Report” was lambasted by hosts Jesse Watters and Sean Hannity in the hours following the interview.
But the Harris campaign agreed to appear on Fox News in an effort to reach undecided voters who have misgivings about Trump. Fox News, the most-watched cable news channel, has cited research data showing it reaches a large number of voters who identify as Democrats or are not affiliated with a political party.
Walz appeared on “Fox News Sunday” for the last two weeks.
Harris has been criticized by commentators on Fox News and other outlets for only agreeing to appearances on media outlets supportive of her candidacy, even though she appeared on “60 Minutes” while Trump canceled his scheduled sit-down on the same program. Trump also said he would not participate in a presidential debate moderated by Baier and his Fox News colleague Martha MacCallum.
Baier aggressively questioned Harris on the current administration’s immigration policy and pressed her to define her differences with President Biden, who dropped out of his reelection campaign in July.
The confrontational exchanges on “Special Report” offered a stark contrast to a town hall-style program shown earlier in the day on Fox News with Trump. The event taped in Georgia on Tuesday was in front of an audience largely supportive of the former president, who faced no hostile questioning.
Baier interrupted Harris a number of times during their interview, which led to criticism among some pundits. The anchor said later that he was trying to keep the vice president from running out the clock with long answers.
The Harris campaign agreed to a 25- to 30-minute taped interview held in Washington Crossing, Pa., and it was aired in its entirety without editing. After the interview aired, Baier described how Harris aides vigorously signaled him to wrap up once the time limit was reached.
But some allies and critics of Harris believed the appearance was a success because it showed the candidate was willing to stand up to tough queries.
“Combative interviews can be good,” Jon Favreau, host of “Pod Save America,” wrote on X. “Going on Fox can be good. You just have to be prepared (she was) and stand your ground (she did!).”
“The left is angrily denouncing Bret Baier for interrupting Kamala Harris and being rude,” conservative commentator Erick Erickson wrote on X. “That tells me all I need to know. Kudos for Harris going on Fox News.”
