Harris Sitting For First-Ever Fox News Interview This Week

by · Forbes

Topline

Vice President Kamala Harris is sitting for an interview with Fox News for the first time on Wednesday during her election countdown sprint of interviews, a possible overture to the channel's conservative-leaning viewers.

LARGO, MARYLAND - AUGUST 15: U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris gives remarks alongside U.S. ... [+] President Joe Biden at Prince George’s Community College on August 15, 2024 in Largo, Maryland. Biden and Harris held the event to talk about their administration's efforts to lower drug costs. This event is the first time President Biden and Vice President Harris have appeared in public together since Biden announced he would be stepping down from running for re-election. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)Getty Images

Key Facts

The interview will be Harris’ first-ever “formal sit-down” interview with the network and will last 25 minutes, Irena Briganti, a senior vice president of communications at Fox News, told Forbes.

The interview will be conducted by Fox’s chief political anchor Bret Baier, who will be in Pennsylvania, and will air on Baier’s show “Special Report” at 6 p.m. EDT on Oct. 16, according to a Fox News press release.

The move is a step beyond the presidential candidate’s interviews in the past month, which have included friendlier interviews with “The Howard Stern Show,” the “Call Her Daddy” podcast and Stephen Colbert’s “The Late Show,” in addition to a sit-down with CBS’s “60 Minutes.”

Key Background

Fox News is consistently the most-watched cable network, eclipsing CNN and MSNBC in average viewership, and is particularly popular among Republican-leaning viewers. While Baier belongs to Fox’s news division, the network’s most popular shows are its conservative primetime opinion programs like “Hannity,” and reporters like White House Correspondent Peter Doocy are known for their often tense questioning of President Joe Biden. The network’s ratings and conservative bent might explain Harris’ shift from a precedent of steering clear of the network as she seeks to reach voters in the final stages of a razor-thin election. Meanwhile, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, Harris’ vice presidential pick, has appeared on “Fox News Sunday” two weeks in a row this month, and the network has interviewed other top Democrats this year. The overtures toward Fox come as Harris’ opponent, Donald Trump, makes regular appearances on Fox News but refuses interviews with CBS’ “60 Minutes” and rejects Harris’ debate challenges on CNN. Former president Donald Trump will appear on Fox News the same day as Harris in a pre-taped town hall-style event discussing the “economy, abortion, immigration and health care” in front of an audience comprised of women, according to a Fox News press release.

Surprising Facts

President Biden also has not appeared on Fox News since becoming president, according to the New York Times.