Fox News host Bret Baier says Kamala Harris may have hurt Trump: ‘She had a mission’

Fox News host Bret Baier takes criticism from all sides:

— Donald Trump supporters are screaming that the pro-Trump cable giant’s host wasn’t tough enough in his hour-long interview with Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday night;

— Democratic supporters have called him rude for interrupting Harris many times during her answers;

— Media critics point out Fox fraudulently edited clip of Trump — and fact-checked in real time by Harris;

– And many in all circles claim that Baier was no match for her in the attempted overthrow of Harris.

Even Baier seemed to acknowledge that Harris had won the day.

“I think she had a mission that she wanted to accomplish,” Baier said after the interview. “Maybe she wanted to have a viral moment, she wanted to have a pushback. She came to Fox News and wanted to experience a viral Donald Trump moment that was playing on many other channels and social media. And I think maybe she understood that.”

Harris received rave reviews from across the political world.

You can view detailed excerpts from the interview here.

Adam Kinzinger, former Republican congressman and member of the January 6 Committee: “She went into the lion’s den, took them on and stood her ground.” Fox tried out her pitfalls in her right-wing reality, and she deftly turned it all up Trump back and held him accountable in his own safe space. She didn’t allow herself to be lured at all – strong, confident, epic. She completely trained Bret Baier.”

Rick Wilson, founder of The Lincoln Project: “Kamala came to Fox to pile up bodies.”

Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin tweeted: “He got his ass kicked.”

Billionaire and “Shark Tank” star Mark Cuban, an economic adviser to Harris’ campaign and a former Trump supporter who has warned against the ex-president, gave Harris rave reviews:

“The nice thing about the interview with Bret Baier is that Kamala Harris understood and answered every question,” Cuban tweeted. “She used examples of guidelines. It provided real context. When Bret came down hard on her, she didn’t call him names. She didn’t stop the interview. She didn’t think of anything. Not once did she complain that the questions were difficult. She never played the victim card. She didn’t lose her temper.

“She didn’t take the bait and denigrate or demean Trump supporters. She stood up to him vigorously and never gave in.

“He has been president for nine years and is campaigning. Kamala Harris caught up with him in just 100 days. That speaks volumes. That’s why people want to vote for her. That’s why so many Republicans and independents support her. She is everything her opponent is not and never will be. Strong, wise and measured.”

In the most controversial part of the interview, Baier played a clip of Trump insisting that liberals were the enemy because he was being investigated “more than Al Capone.” When Baier asked for Harris’ reaction, she replied:

“With all due respect, this clip was not what he said about the ‘enemy within,’ what he repeated when speaking about the American people,” Harris said. “That’s not what you just showed.”

Baier tried to interrupt, but Harris continued.

“You didn’t show that,” she said. “You and I both know that he has talked about using the American military against the American people. He’s talked about locking people up because they don’t agree with him. This is a democracy. The president of the United States should be willing to deal with criticism without saying he would lock people up for it.”

In the end, it emerged that Fox had intentionally edited the same clip to remove Trump’s comments about “the enemy within” and was caught in real time by Harris.

Former Senator Claire McCkill: “If anyone wants to find out who is stronger, Kamala is on Fox News.” And even the MAGA people know he would never have the courage to do an interview on MSNBC.”

McCaskill also responded to Baier’s frequent interruptions: “I thought Bret Baier would be harsh.” I didn’t think he would be downright rude and disrespectful. The vice president did a great job. She is strong. He’s scared.”

Jeff Greenfield, an author and 30-year political analyst, tweeted: “I expected tough questions and persistent follow-up. I didn’t expect Baier to become a fighter. He did Harris a real favor in that role.”

Harris campaign adviser David Plouffe: “Kamala Harris (strong) handled an ambush Fox interview light years better than Donald Trump (unstable), who did the Fox pep rally disguised as a town hall.”

Even Fox News host Dana Perino admitted that Harris was “pretty effective” when it came to making her points about Trump. Fox colleague Brit Hume said Harris was “combative and energetic and she certainly threw some punches at Donald Trump.”

Author David Rothkopf: “Kamala Harris has been tested again and again and has won brilliantly. She is a much stronger candidate today than she was when she began her campaign.” He added: “Fox has prepared a warm bath for Trump and an ambush for the vice president. She emerged stronger, while both Trump and Fox revealed their deep weakness.”

Many on Twitter / “An hour long answering questions from Rachel Maddow” or Lawrence O’Donnell.”

Former Obama aide Tommy Vietor: “Kamala Harris did a great job at Fox News and showed she could answer tough questions from anyone. Bret Baier also reminded us for the umpteenth time that he may go to all the DC book parties, but when push comes to shove, he’s a Murdoch/GOP employee and will do their bidding.”

Trump said on Truth Social that he would have preferred a tougher journalist to conduct the Harris interview, saying Baier was “often very gentle with those in the ‘cocktail scene’ of the left.”

After the interview, Baier said, “I think she had a mission that she wanted to accomplish. Maybe she wanted to have a viral moment or pushback. She came to Fox News and wanted to have a viral Donald Trump moment that would run on many other channels and social media. Maybe that’s what she got.”

Former New York congressman Max Rose called it “a home run because it sent the only message that needs to be sent, which is: ‘I will go anywhere at any time and have the courage to speak to any American,’ because that is.” “ what a real president does. The main criticism of her up to that point was that she didn’t give enough interviews. No one thought the Fox News interview would go smoothly every step of the way. Everyone knew it would be controversial, but she showed exactly what she needed to show, which is that she is a leader and ready to be president from day one.”