Harris argues with Fox News host and says she wouldn’t be a “sequel” to Biden

WASHINGTON — In a combative interview with Fox News, Kamala Harris said in the most emphatic words yet that if she wins the election, she would seek an independent presidency that would not be a repeat of President Joe Biden’s nearly four years in office.

“My presidency would not be a continuation of Joe Biden’s presidency,” Harris told interviewer Fox News host Bret Baier. “And like every new president who takes office, I will bring my life and professional experiences to the job.” “I represent a new generation of leaders.”

Harris’ statement comes after she faced criticism over her recent interview on ABC’s “The View,” in which she failed to identify policy differences she has had with Biden since she served as his vice president.

Given Biden’s unpopularity in public opinion polls, Harris’ response sparked criticism that her term was merely a continuation of Biden’s. NBC News reported that Harris’ campaign was looking for a chance for her to put more distance between the two. On Tuesday, Biden appeared to give her his blessing, saying she would “go her own way” as president.

Harris took the rare step of appearing on the conservative network in hopes of appealing to Republican and independent voters who don’t typically listen to mainstream news sources. In a race with Republican Donald Trump that is too close, Harris wants to appeal to voters who are not part of the Democratic coalition but are not convinced by four more years of Trump.

The interview was perhaps the most controversial of Harris’ campaign: both she and Baier had something to prove. Fox News’ conservative viewers wanted to see a hard-hitting interview, while Harris needed to look strong and show the level of authority Americans expect from a commander in chief.

The two frequently talked over and past each other as Baier tried to pin her down on topics such as the border, the economy and any concerns she might have about Biden’s suitability for office.

Harris stood her ground and insisted that she be allowed to finish her sentences, while Baier pushed for short, clear answers that would allow him to say as much as possible.

“I’m just about to respond to the point you’re making, and I want to conclude,” Harris parried one of his questions about immigration.

Harris became the nominee after Biden dropped out of the race because of weak poll numbers and Democrats feared that, at 81, he was showing signs of frailty that made him unelectable.

Biden’s weaknesses have been an issue for years, but received renewed attention after a dismal debate against Trump in June.

Baier pressed Harris on whether she had noticed Biden weakening.

She responded that Biden was up to the task and quickly turned to Trump, calling him the one who couldn’t meet the demands of the presidency.

“Joe Biden is not on the ballot,” she said. “Trump is.”

She quoted former senior Trump officials who said he was unfit to serve as president. “I think the American people have concerns about Donald Trump,” she said.

Baier tried to find answers to what Trump wanted to address in the main issue of the campaign: border security. He mentioned crimes committed by illegal immigrants under the watch of the Biden-Harris administration.

While Harris expressed sympathy for the victims and acknowledged that the immigration system is broken, he said Congress had drafted a bipartisan bill to strengthen border security that Trump had derailed through his influence with Republican lawmakers.

She also blamed Congress for failing to pass a comprehensive immigration bill that Biden unveiled on the first day of his presidency in 2021 that was aimed at curbing both illegal immigration and the millions of Americans who are there live in the country illegally, providing a path to citizenship.

Polls show that voters see Harris as an agent of change.

“You have been vice president for three and a half years,” Baier said. “What are you peeling off of?”

Harris mentioned Trump, who has either run for president or held the office continuously since 2015.

She said she wanted to “put behind us the decade in which we were burned by the kind of rhetoric that Donald Trump used to divide our country and have Americans literally pointing fingers at each other.”

If Trump is so flawed, why do so many Americans support his candidacy, Baier asked. Does she think voters are stupid?

“I never said that,” Harris said. Turning back to Trump, she said: “He is the one who tends to demean and belittle the American people.”

She mentioned Trump’s repeated mention of the “enemy within” lurking in the US and expressed concerns that Trump would use the US military to deal with such nebulous threats.