We apologize to feminists who push back against being described as "angry" or "shrill" because these terms are frequently used to delegitimize their arguments and the broader feminist movement. They correctly insist that such a description is a gender stereotype that paints women who are assertive or passionate about issues as unstable or unreasonable. They cry a double standard that men who express passion are seen as strong or determined, whereas women are labeled negatively for similar behavior.
We never call women shrill and angry, but that was who Kamala Harris was tonight. The much-awaited Fox News interview between Vice President Kamala Harris and Bret Baier aired minutes after it was taped at 6 PM ET in a near-live broadcast.
Even the most ardent feminist would agree that Harris - who has wrapped her entire campaign as one of joy - was needlessly argumentative, refusing to deviate from her talking points, unprofessionally talking over Baier, filibustering him for seconds on end, and shifting uncomfortably in her chair, expressing raw rage toward former President Donald Trump. [Watch clip starting 19:32 to 20:45].
For those who may argue that we are policing her tone - where people are more concerned about how someone is speaking rather than what they are saying - we disagree. As voters, we want to see a certain sense of calm and purpose in the leader of the Free World. Rage will make her closest advisers afraid of giving her the news she doesn't want to hear or raising ideas contrary to her expectations, though such discussions would be in America's interests. Such aggressive body language can result in staff turnover at the highest levels of the administration, leaving Americans underserved as crucial positions go unfulfilled. Axios has already reported that 92% of her Vice President's office staff quit. The same infighting among her senior staff had caused Harris to abandon her 2020 presidential run. Tone matters for those seeking the highest office in the land. It certainly matters when Trump’s tone is one of the primary drivers of the Democrats’ distaste for him.
Harris was also blatantly dishonest about substance. Baier started with a simple question.
Voters tell pollsters all over the country and here in Pennsylvania that immigration is one of the key issues they are looking at in this election. And specifically, the influx of illegal immigrants from more than 150 countries. How many would you estimate your administration has released into the country in the last 3 1/2 years?
Harris never answered the question. The discussion went on for ten minutes (the most extended segment of the interview), but she never offered a number. It was utter disregard for the American voter and the Fourth Estate by the second-most senior official in the United States government, who was in charge of the border.
We all know what happened. Under President Trump, illegal immigration levels were low because he strictly enforced policies through Executive Orders - such as "Remain In Mexico," stopping the "Catch and Release," and building sections of a border wall - against intense opposition from the Deep State and the courts.
When the Biden-Harris administration appointed Alejandro Mayorkas as Secretary of Homeland Security, he said (on March 1, 2021): "We are dedicated to achieving—and quite frankly working around the clock—to replace the cruelty of the past administration with an orderly, humane, and safe immigration process." The result was that Biden-Harris canceled all 94 Executive Orders that Trump had issued.
Today, we know what a disaster her policies have been. No one knows how many people crossed the border and were released into the country. [Estimates are 18 million plus].
Her policies have certainly not been safe. Last month, the acting Director of Immigration Enforcement released an explosive letter, saying that under Biden-Harris, America had caught and released into the country over 662,000 migrants with criminal records. Worse, more than 15,000 of them were murderers convicted in their home countries, and 16,000 were convicted of sexual assault. Other crimes included 100,000 assaults, 70,000 drug violations, 90,000 invasions of privacy, and 16,000 weapons offenses.
So, how did Harris respond to Baier's line of questioning? By holding Trump responsible for saying that Trump helped kill a compromise Senate bill. Never mind that the bill would still let in 1.8 million illegals each year, granted a pathway to citizenship for 11 million illegals, was met with significant opposition from conservatives, was only brought up earlier this year, and Trump has not been in office since January 2021.
And so it went for the remaining interview. It was a 25-minute free infomercial for the Harris campaign - focused on Trump-bashing.
Harris insisted that her presidency would not be a continuation of Joe Biden's presidency but refused to divulge any policy other than repeating her proposals for the $25,000 housing assistance, her $50,000 small business deduction plan, and her plan to invest in new housing. It was not convincing.
Baier then asked:
Your campaign slogan is 'A New Way Forward' and 'It is time to turn the page.' You've been Vice President for 3½ years, so what are you turning the page from?
Harris:
So, first of all, turning the page from the last decade in which we have been burdened with the kind of rhetoric coming from Donald Trump that has been designed and implemented to divide our country.
Donald Trump again? The math did not add up. A decade ago, in 2014, President Obama was in office, and he didn't leave the White House until January 20, 2017. Was Harris complaining about the Obama years? No. Was she complaining about the Biden-Harris years? No, of course not.
How could four years of Trump's time in office turn into a decade of burden for Kamala Harris when Trump held no office before or after his presidency? For nearly two years after Biden-Harris took over, Trump was in political exile, banned from mainstream media outlets like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and other social media platforms. The Democrats controlled all the levers of power and the narrative, including conducting the J6 Congressional investigation with wall-to-wall negative coverage of Trump. They went after Trump with 94 lawsuits, bringing the weight of federal, state, county, and city prosecutors against him. Still, Trump was a burden? Her reasoning was bizarre.
Baier finally came to the topic that has never been raised until now - her relationship with Biden and how she had played a part in hiding Biden's mental condition for all these years:
When did you first notice that President Biden's mental faculties appeared diminished?
There was a pregnant 3-second pause. Harris, again, did not answer the question but tried to filibuster with a nonsensical response, somehow culminating in Donald Trump. [Watch clip starting 21:16 to 22:35]. During portions of this exchange, both Baier and Harris talked over each other.
The interview ended abruptly as the question turned toward foreign policy and Iran. Baier was distracted as he began looking behind the lights to Harris staffers, who were evidently signaling that the interview should end. Baier was forced to concede: "Ma'am Vice President, they are wrapping me very hard here." The discussion ended shortly after that.
It was clear that Harris had changed no minds towards her, certainly no one who was an Independent or a Republican. Judging by responses on X, Harris supporters felt that Baier was unprofessional and bullying. The interview felt adversarial because Harris had never once spoken to an objective media personality - and this was all on the Harris campaign for hiding her from the press.
We have been consistently saying on these pages that Harris is inauthentic as a leader and America deserves better. The Fox interview cemented our opinion.
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