Fox’s Bret Baier Defends ‘Interrupty’ Interview with Kamala Harris, Reveals ‘Rude’ Delays: ‘She Wanted It To Be Combative’
Fox News’s Bret Baier defended an interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris that the New Yorker’s David Remnick told him was too “interrupty,” especially when compared to an interview with President Donald Trump.
Baier joined The New Yorker Radio Hour with Remnick this week where he talked about his 27-year career at Fox News, as well as interviews he conducted with Trump and Harris during the 2024 presidential election. Baier’s interview with Trump ended with the now-president calling him “nasty” over the anchor informing him he lost the 2020 presidential election despite his continued insistence that there was fraud.
The interview with Harris got fiery too and Baier revealed some behind-the-scenes drama that went into the sit-down and why he felt Harris wanted a “combative” interview with the Fox anchor.
“I find you a very straightforward and fair interviewer nine times out of 10. I confess to you that I thought when you interviewed Kamala Harris and maybe you’ve heard this before, you were, and men can do this, you were a little interrupty and maybe more interrupting of her than Donald Trump,” Remnick told Baier.
Baier said it wasn’t the first time he’s heard the criticism, but he argued he gave tough questions to both Trump and Harris.
“I would look back. I did interrupt to try to redirect. I think the vice president wanted to come very combative to that interview and wanted that,” he said.
Baier explained the interview was delayed until the very last minute, leaving his producers scrambling. According to the reporter, the interview was set to take place at 5:00 and Baier and his team were set up by 4:30. Harris wrapped her event outside by 4:35, but did not join Baier until 5:15.
“5:15, so my producers are pulling their hair out, they’re sweating, everybody’s running around. 5:13:30, 5:14:30, the vice president walks out of that room, sits down, I try to engage, as you did before I came on, in some conversation. ‘It was a great event outside, Madam Vice President, good to see you.’ She turned to me and said, ‘You ready?'” Baier recalled.
“You didn’t like that?” Remnick asked.
“Well, I just thought it was icing the kicker, they were trying to create this pressure moment and it changed the dynamic,” Baier said, adding later that Harris’s team later “privately” admitted that was the strategy all along.
Check out the full exchange below:
DAVID REMNICK: I find you a very straight forward and fair interviewer nine times out of 10. I confess to you that I thought when you interviewed Kamala Harris and maybe you’ve heard this before, you were, and men can do this, you were a little interrupty and maybe more interrupting of her than Donald Trump.
BRET BAIER: I’ve heard that criticism…I think that if you look at that June 23 interview with Donald Trump, it was about equal, as far as my push—
REMNICK: Not in interruption. Definitely in terms of tough questions. I wouldn’t argue with that.
BAIER: I would look back. I did interrupt to try to redirect. I think the vice president wanted to come very combative to that interview and wanted that.
REMNICK: And you wanted to push her back?
BAIER: Well, I was actually ready to start with something, you know, very — what’s the most important issue for you, Madam Vice President? To be honest, we did a pre-tape. I’ll give you the backstory quickly. We wanted to do it live at 6 p.m. They wanted to do a pre-tape, which was fine with us. They said 5:00, and we were ready at 4:30. She had an event. She was finished with that event and in the building by about 4:35. We just told the folks, the handlers, we need to start by 5:15. Otherwise turning the tape around for the top of the 6 o’clock would be logistically tough for us to do. So she’s in the building, event’s over, I’m there, lights are ready, we’re all ready. 4:35, 4:45, 4:50, 5:00, 5:05, 5:10, 5:13. Now at 5:15, we have to do it live because we can’t physically get the thing —
REMNICK: Like Bill O’Reilly!
BAIER: “Do it live!” No, I wasn’t going to do that and it wouldn’t be caught on camera. But 5:15, so my producers are pulling their hair out, they’re sweating, everybody’s running around. 5:13:30, 5:14:30, the vice president walks out of that room, sits down, I try to engage, as you did before I came on, in some conversation. “It was a great event outside, Madam Vice President, good to see you.” She turned to me and said, “You ready?”
REMNICK: You didn’t like that?
BAIER: Well, I just thought it was icing the kicker, they were trying to create this pressure moment and it changed the dynamic.
REMNICK: Icing the kicker for our non-football audience is to call time out right before a field goal in an attempt to make the kicker think about it extra hard.
BAIER (laughing): Thank you.
REMNICK: You bet.
BAIER: That’s good!
REMNICK: We try to reach a broad audience.
BAIER: That’s really good, that’s really good. But anyway, it just started like that and I knew at that moment that she wanted it to be combative. Listen, we gave a lot of time. She talked about issues she wanted to talk about, but also —
REMNICK: But I think you’re telling me she pissed you off a little bit by coming in 15 seconds before.
BAIER: I thought it was a little —
REMNICK: Rude?
BAIER: Yes. I did. And it doesn’t emotionally affect me, but as I sat there thinking, what is she trying to do by doing this? And I think it was to create that dynamic and they admitted as much later, privately.
Listen to the full New Yorker Radio Hour interview here.
