Donald Trump praised Fox News chief political presenter Bret Baier for “excellent work” in his interview with Democratic presidential candidate in 2024 Kamala Harris on Wednesday night, saying Bayer “showed how completely incompetent Kamala is” while he himself demanded she take a cognitive test.
Trump joined his campaign, calling the interview a complete disaster for Harris. During the interview, Harris and Baier exchanged views multiple times; at one point, on the topic of immigration, Harris clapped back at Bayer when he interrupted her: “Can I finish answering you?”
Immediately after the interview aired, campaign officials, particularly advisers Stephen Miller and Stephen Cheung, reached out to X to denounce Harris' responses.
“Episode IV: Team Biden Strikes Back. Team Obama crapped the bed, and now Team Biden is feeling emboldened by that disastrous Kamala interview” – Chung wrote.
Meanwhile Miller compared Interview with Harris about the sinking of the Titanic.
Trump followed up on that message Wednesday night with a decision Truth Social after appearing with a group of undecided Latino voters at a town hall organized by Univision Noticias.
“Great job by Bret Baier in his interview with the lying Kamala Harris,” the former president wrote.
Trump then claimed that Harris was suffering from a “huge and irreparable case of TRUMP SYNDROME,” boasting that she spent most of her time talking about him.
“So bad, in fact, that she can barely talk about anything other than the man who had the best economy in history, the strongest border in history, and who just received the UNITED SUPPORT of the US Border Patrol, ME!”
After a few more words about Harris and how she is the “WORST VP ever” and “hopefully goes away soon,” Trump turned again to congratulate Baier.
“Congratulations to Bret Baier for a difficult but very fair interview that clearly showed how completely incompetent Kamala is. For the good of our nation, her poor cognitive abilities must be tested immediately!”
The Harris campaign clearly disagreed. Talking to ReutersHarris campaign spokesman Brian Fallon said they were confident that “we certainly achieved what we set out to achieve in the sense that she was able to reach an audience that was probably not familiar with the arguments she made during the investigation, and she also had to demonstrate her toughness in standing up to a hostile interviewer.”
Fallon added, “I think there are a large number of independents and Haley-style Republicans who are very open to voting for Vice President Harris, and that's why we're open to hosting events with Republicans on Fox News Channel.”
Bayer, for his part, defended his aggressive interrogation style on Fox He said Wednesday night that he knew immediately that Harris “would be hard to redirect unless I tried to interrupt him.” He added that Harris was late for the interview.
In an interview with a conservative personality Mark LevinBayer continued by saying, “There was a little disappointment” and that “I had so much to do.
“I was hoping it would be this kind of polite chat, but it was good for her to come out and I think she should do more of those, but I was just trying to get through talking points and it took a while and it was a little bit, you know, interrupting and kind of holding your breath.”
“They wanted a viral moment,” Baier suggested, reiterating that his original time was supposedly cut due to Harris' campaign and that Harris was late.
“I was really hoping that it would go the way I imagined it would, which was more like talking about topics. We could say, 'You have differences, that's where I am,' I insisted, but in a respectful way. And I did a lot of those interviews where it's really helpful to talk back and forth, and you get some space, and you really learn something about politics and where they are. Then, I thought, anything could be and in a different way. This may be destined for a viral moment and it's essentially debate practice, and so I need to be able to ask as many questions as possible, respectfully but firmly, and hope she comes back when she's in a different, talkative mood and we learn more.”
