Harris spars on Fox News, Trump does Univision

Kamala Harris campaigns in Erie, Pennsylvania

"My presidency will not be a continuation of Joe Biden's presidency"

(Image credit: Dustin Franz / AFP via Getty Images)

published 17 October 2024

What happened

Vice President Kamala Harris held a rally in Pennsylvania Wednesday with more than 100 Republican former officeholders and officials who are backing her over Donald Trump, then sat down for a combative interview with Bret Baier on Fox News. Trump appeared in a Fox News town hall, taped Tuesday in Georgia, with a friendly audience of women, then recorded a Univision town hall in Florida with more skeptical Latino voters.

Harris and Trump may have "appeared on the same network," but the dueling Fox News events showcased "their divergent media and electoral strategies," The Wall Street Journal said. Trump "has largely been sticking to conservative media," working to "boost voter turnout among people who support him already," while Harris is doing "more challenging interviews" to expand her coalition. Harris' Fox News debut — essentially "going into the lion's den" — was a play to "reach millions of voters, especially conservative-leaning women, who have probably not heard much of her message," The New York Times said. The half-hour interview was "contentious from the start and stayed that way throughout," Kierra Frazier said at Politico. Baier "recycled Republican talking points into accusations and frequently interrupted the vice president," while Harris highlighted Trump's "threats in recent appearances to use the military to go after his critics" and accused Baier of whitewashing those threats.

Harris "deserves credit for doing the interview," RealClearPolitics president Tom Bevan said on X, but "I don't think it helped her change any minds. Critics think it was a disaster, supporters think she did great." Most people, "especially swing voters," will only "see clips and get a general sense" of how the interview went, and "by that standard," Harris "did just fine," Jonathan Alter said at the Times. She "should have been better prepared" for "certain predictable questions," but the "sound bite that lingers" will be her line: "My presidency will not be a continuation of Joe Biden's presidency."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.