Former President Donald Trump’s campaign is claiming that “handlers” for Vice President Kamala Harris abruptly ended her interview with Fox News host Bret Baier.
Harris sat down with Baier on Wednesday for her first interview on Fox News since becoming this year’s Democratic presidential nominee in July. The often contentious interview, which aired commercial-free for just under 27 minutes, touched on several hot-button campaign issues and the vice president’s criticisms of Trump.
Just after the interview aired, the Trump campaign’s “Trump War Room” account on X, formerly Twitter, shared a very short clip of the interview’s ending while claiming that Harris had performed so badly that her team was forced to “throw in the towel.”
“WATCH: Bret Baier looks to Kamala’s handlers as they throw in the towel and frantically push to end her disastrous interview. ‘They’re giving me a hard wrap here,'” the Trump campaign wrote.
During an on-air discussion following the interview, Baier said that Harris arrived to the interview around 5:15 p.m., later than expected, and that Fox was “pushing the envelope” to complete what was expected to be a 25-minute interview before 6 p.m.
Baier said the following about the end of the interview during a broadcast of Hannity a short time later: “It was cordial, I said, ‘thank you so much, Madame Vice President, for the time.’ Her people, like probably four people, were wrapping me with big, you know, moving arms. That’s why I looked out to the side and said, ‘I’ve got to wrap up.'”
There was no indication that the Harris team ended the interview early or that it wrapped up because they thought it was a “disastrous” performance, despite the Trump campaign’s claim.
Newsweek reached out for comment to the Harris campaign via email on Wednesday night.
When contacted for comment, a Fox spokesman pointed Newsweek to Baier’s remarks.
On social media, Harris and her campaign appeared satisfied with the visit to Fox News, with X accounts from the vice president and her team quickly sharing and highlighting several key moments from the interview.
One video shared by the Harris campaign’s “Kamala HQ” account compared the vice president answering several of Baier’s questions to Trump speaking during what appeared to be a far friendlier interview with Fox News’ Harris Faulkner on the same day.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, former Democratic presidential candidate who frequently makes Fox News appearances, praised Harris during a CNN interview on Wednesday for being able to “get her point across” on Fox News despite being “repeatedly interrupted” by Baier.
“As somebody who has a lot of batting practice myself on that network, [I’m] really proud of how she represented her views, her values and this ticket in front of a conservative audience,” Buttigieg said.
“[It] is a show of strength,” he added. “That is the exact opposite of the weakness that Donald Trump has demonstrated by pulling out of going even on CNBC, which is, you know, hardly a liberal bastion.”
Update 10/16/24, 11:17 p.m.: This article has been updated with further context and additional quotes.
