Eye of the Beholder: Who Came Out on Top in Testy Kamala Harris-Bret Baier Interview?

Go to any right leaning website or certain Twitter accounts, Vice President Kamala Harris was the big loser in Wednesday evening's interview with Fox News Bret Baier.

"Who thinks Brett Baier just ended Kamala's campaign?," one person asked on X.

"I can't believe I'm saying this but Brett Baier just ended Kamala's campaign. This is an unmitigated disaster."

Conservative editorial website The National Review headlined with "Kamala Harris Flails on Fox News, as Expected".

At the Gateway Pundit, more doom and gloom. 

"MUST WATCH: One of Bret Baier’s Best Take Downs in Disastrous Interview with Kamala Harris (VIDEO)", "SHE’S DONE! Kamala Harris Completely Cracks Under Pressure, Starts Screaming About Trump in Sit Down Interview with Bret Baier (VIDEO)"

Right leaning news aggregator the Drudge Report is not afraid to link to negative news stories about former president and GOP candidate Donald Trump.  Drudge is hardly pro-Harris either.

Its headlines included the likes of "Cat Eats Fox" and "Kamala Slams FOX Baier For Not Airing The Don Threatening Political Foes with Violence... VIDEO: SHOWDOWN..."

Hardly seems like a death knell to us.

NPR presented a more balanced take on Wednesday's interview.

"Harris interview on Fox gets testy — but also gives her a do-over".

They did not come to a conclusion as to how Harris performed, other than to note the heated exchange.

Left leaning MSNBC featured a headline on its site: "Kamala Harris’ Fox News interview said more about Bret Baier than it did her".

That article goes on to emphasize the "contentious" nature of the Baier interview.

"Vice President Kamala Harris’ sit-down with Fox News’ Bret Baier wasn’t an interview; it was a competition. Baier sought to box Harris into giving no-win answers to what were at times loaded questions."

Maybe the best indicator of how Harris performed, Fox News' own Brit Hume.

“She was combative and energetic and certainly landed some blows on Donald Trump," he offered.

Kind of the point.

Unlike most Fox Guests, Kamala Harris wasn't performing for Trump, she was talking to the American people. @brithume: @KamalaHarris landed some blows on Donald Trump. pic.twitter.com/XHLVqxqea5

— James Singer (@Jemsinger) October 16, 2024

Our take at Gambling911.com: Baier focused on the red meat he knew the Fox News audience would eat up: Immigration, immigration and immigration, plus a dash of prisoners getting tax-funded sex changes.  The U.S. Constitution requires that the government provide needed medical care for prisoners and Harris responded accordingly.

“I will follow the law, and it’s a law that Donald Trump actually followed," she answered.

FactCheck.org noted that, as a former California Attorney General, "her office represented the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation as it attempted to block gender-affirming surgery for a state inmate in 2015. The department ultimately came to an agreement to revise its policy on providing medically necessary gender-affirming surgery to prison inmates that same year, following a legal loss. In 2017, a transgender inmate in California became the first prisoner in the U.S. to be provided gender-affirming surgery"

Harris only needed to win over a small number of Fox News viewers.  The network is among the most watched on cable television.  Her goal: To convince those who might be on the fence and don't necessarily feel compelled to vote for Trump but can't really stomach the idea of voting for a Democrat either.  Whether she accomplished this feat, we may never know.

A survey held in the U.S. in spring 2023 found that 41 percent of Republicans watched Fox News every day or a few times per week, compared to only 21 percent of Democrats and 26 percent of Independents.

The interview did nothing to move the needle when it comes to the election odds.  Trump remained the -155 favorite, Harris came in at +135 at BetOnline as of Wednesday night.