Kamala Harris “turns it up to 11.”
I admired Kamala Harris greatly before she sat for an interview with scoundrel Brett Baier on Fox News on Wednesday. But after watching her humiliate Brett Baier and Fox News during a hostile interview, my admiration for her has gone “all the way up to 11.” She knocked it out of the park! Immediately after the interview, Fox’s own analyst proclaimed that Harris was “fairly effective . . . especially when she was going after Donald Trump.”
You can say that again! So, I will. Kamala Harris was especially effective when going after Donald Trump.
CNN’s Brian Stelter noted that Harris demolished the Fox talking point that she was incapable of standing up to tough questioning. Stelter said,
This was one of the most adversarial interviews Kamala Harris has probably ever done. A lot of viewers are going to come away saying, “Wow, she's willing to do that. That's a sign of toughness and strength.”
In a must-watch segment of the interview, Harris addressed Trump's threat to go after “the enemy within”—referring to Americans Trump considers to be his political opponents. Brett Baier tried to challenge Harris’s comments by playing a video clip that Baier claimed disproved Harris’s allegation. Baier then played the clip, which contained no references to “the enemy within” and included seemingly conciliatory statements by Trump. (It turns out that Baier had selectively edited out references in Trump's answer to “the enemy within.” Baier’s deceit merits a public reprimand by his superiors.)
Kamala Harris immediately challenged the authenticity of the videotape, saying that it did not fairly represent Trump's comments. Harris also told Baier that he knew the videotape did not represent what Trump had said. She then laid waste to Trump's hateful rhetoric and ugly threats. Watch this clip through the 3:00 minute mark: CNN, Harris takes on Fox News during heated interview.
Before turning to Baier’s deception, let’s acknowledge that Kamala Harris was able to tell Fox viewers that Trump views fellow Americans as “the enemy” and has threatened to use the US military against political opponents. Point, set, and match to Harris!
To see the unedited video that Brett Baier deceptively edited, watch this video clip through the first 65 seconds—which is the portion that Baier omitted: WSJ News, Trump Doubles Down on ‘Enemy From Within’ Comments About Democrats
Except for a brief introductory period, Brett Baier treated Kamala Harris rudely and with condescension. He repeatedly interrupted her in a way that he would never have interrupted Trump. Despite Baier’s overtly argumentative approach, Kamala Harris was able to deliver substantive answers regarding policy and deliver stinging rebukes to Trump. Notable answers include those set forth below, with the video links for each answer.
[I apologize for linking to video embedded in tweets, but Fox has made it difficult to link to jump cites in the full-length interview.]
Speaking of Trump, Kamala Harris said: “Trump’s Chief of Staff, his Defense Secretaries, his National Security Adviser, and his Vice President are all saying that he is unfit to serve, he is unstable, and he is dangerous. People are exhausted with someone who professes to be a leader who spends full time demeaning and engaging in personal grievances.”
Baier asks Harris if she thinks Trump supporters are “stupid” for supporting Trump. Harris responds, “I would never say that about the American people. If you listen to Donald Trump’s rallies, he's the one who demeans and belittles the American people. He's the one who talks about an ‘enemy within,’ and suggests he would turn the military on the American people.”
On immigration addresses immigration, Harris says Within hours of taking the oath, we introduced a bill to fix our broken immigration system. It was not taken up –[Brett Baier interrupts]--May I finish responding to you? I supported a bill by some of the most conservative members of Congress to actually strengthen the border. It would have put 1,500 more border agents at the border. It would have allowed us to stem the flow of fentanyl coming into the United States. Donald Trump told them to kill it because he prefers to run on a problem instead of fixing a problem. Americans want a president who's not playing political games
There is more but the above excerpts show a strong Kamala Harris besting a hostile and dishonest interviewer intent on advancing right-wing talking points. Harris’s performance should finally put to rest the whining from journalists who dismiss every Harris interview as “not good enough” to satisfy the pundit industrial complex.
The commanding performance by Kamala Harris contrasts sharply with the made-for-tv infomercial that Fox conducted earlier in the day for Trump. The so-called “town hall” to address “women’s issues” was played out before an audience filled with political operatives for the GOP. See CNN, Fox News did not disclose its all-women town hall with Trump was packed with his supporters and was edited to remove some of their vocal advocacy of Trump.
Even with a friendly crowd selected by the Trump campaign, Trump made ludicrous statements that underscored his increasing disconnect from reality. See Talking Points Memo, No, Trump Is Not The ‘Father Of IVF’.
Despite the friendly audience, Trump fumbled around as he answered their questions in weird and sexists ways — at one point painting himself as the “father of IVF” while admitting he just learned what the procedure was this year when the “fantastically attractive” Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) explained it to him.
Here’s what the former president said in response to a question about his support for the procedure:
[Britt] called me up like, “Emergency! Emergency!” Because an Alabama judge had ruled that the IVF clinics were illegal and they have to be closed down. A judge ruled. And she said, “Friends of mine came up to me, and they were — oh, they were so angry!”
I didn’t even know they were going, you know, they were — it’s fertilization. I didn’t know they were even involved in, nobody talks about — they don’t talk about it. But now that they can’t do it — she said, “I was attacked. In a certain way, I was attacked.”
And I said, “Explain IVF very quickly.” And within about two minutes, I understood it. I said, “No, no. We’re totally in favor of IVF.”
“I want to talk about IVF. I’m the father of IVF!
It is staggering that Trump claims to be “the father of IVF” when he didn’t even know what it was until a year ago.
Trump also appears to have crashed and burned in his Univision townhall, but I can’t get access to live links yet. I will address tomorrow.
[Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter]
