Vice President Kamala Harris’ team frantically tried to get Fox News host Bret Baier to wrap up their interview early toward the end of the testy sit-down in Pennsylvania Wednesday.
The Democratic presidential nominee joined Baier for an interview aired on his nightly Special Report show – her first-ever interview for the conservative news network.
The pair spoke over each other numerous times as Baier grilled the 59-year-old vice president – who showed up 17 minutes late, according to the newsman – on multiple topics including immigration right out of the gate.
‘I’m talking like four people waving their hands like “it’s got to stop,”‘ Baier described to his panel about how the taped but unedited interview ended after it aired at the top of his 6 pm show.
‘I had to dismount there at the end,’ Baier shrugged.
‘There are so many things and maybe she should do more of these,’ he added.
In total, Harris’ sit-down with Fox News lasted under 30 minutes where the pair clashed multiple times, including when Baier pressed her to answer his question about making sex change operations for prisoners a priority.
At one point while sparring over immigration, Harris even said to the anchor ‘you have to let me finish’ as he pressed her on the issue, trying to get her to answer very specific questions rather than revert back to some of her talking points.
It was one of several times throughout the interview – which some viewers later described as ‘a total train wreck’ – where they spoke over each other, and the vice president asked the Fox News host to stop interrupting her.
At the very end of the interview on camera, Baier seated across from her, had to cut the vice president off once again stating ‘Madam Vice President, they’re giving me a hard wrap.’
‘Well I thank you for the time,’ Harris promptly said ending it on a cordial sounding note.
Harris did the interview after a campaign event in Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania, before heading to Wisconsin Wednesday evening.
It was part of a busy campaign week for the vice president as she makes a series of stops in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin before she also heads to Georgia this weekend.
The testy interview took place as the vice president has been pressed to do more unscripted appearances and interviews as she tries to reach more voters.
After the interview aired, the Harris campaign posted a series of clips from the interview across social media as well as promoted moments of praise from commentators weighing in on Fox News and CNN after it aired.
After the vice president’s plane landed Wednesday evening, campaign communications director Brian Fallon spoke with reporters traveling with the vice president’s press pool briefly about the interview.
‘We feel like like we definitely achieved what we set out to achieve in the sense that she was able to reach an audience that is probably been not exposed to the arguments she’s been making on the trail and she also got to show her toughness in standing tall against a hostile interviewer,’ he said, according to a pool report.