Kamala Harris was fishing for Republican votes in troubled waters—the airwaves of Fox News. Fox News, meanwhile, tried to sink their boat.

The unusual encounter illustrates the rough electoral calculation in this US election campaign: Harris must add some of these viewers to compensate for possible losses other voters.

your message usually right-wing voters is that she is a safe choice when it comes to protecting American democracy, many Republicans support her, she is more stable than Trump and she focuses on moderate, fundamental issues.

In other words, she hoped to penetrate the fog of Fox News with the same messages from her summer Congress speechand another event she held Wednesday with Republicans.

VIEW | Kamala Harris sat down with Fox News. This is how it went:

Harris woos Republican voters in heated Fox News interview | Canada tonight

US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris conducted a combative first interview with Fox News on Wednesday in which she discussed immigration policies and changing policy positions while asserting that if elected they would not represent a continuation of Joe Biden’s presidency would.

It was an extraordinary choice of program, considering how rarely Harris sat for interviews early in her campaign, let alone in the proverbial lion’s den; However, Trump himself has conducted far more controversial interviews not so much lately.

Her interviewer was Bret Baier, a news anchor occasionally played golf with Donald Trump. On Wednesday, Trump’s golf buddy teed off to Harris.

The interviewer pressed her in a way she had never been pressured before as a presidential candidate: relentlessly, on topics that seemed tailor-made to remind Fox News viewers why they shouldn’t like her.

Illegal migration; publicly funded gender reassignment surgery for prisoners; their previous left-wing promises; President Joe Biden’s mental decline. The Fox host pressed her on these topics – in contrast to a current one CNN interviewerhe continued to pursue.

It began with Baier asking how many illegal border crossers had been released pending their asylum process; as Harris began to give her usual answer, that Trump sabotaged an immigration law, he rejected and cited Dozens of actions The current government itself loosened the border early on.

“May I please finish answering?” You have to let me finish,” Harris responded when Baier interrupted her to interrupt her Trump accusations.

That essentially set the pattern for the next 25 minutes.

Frosty exchange

Baier then played a video of a grieving mother whose daughter was killed by an illegal migrant and asked if she would apologize. Harris said she was sorry for the loss; Baier again pushed for an apology; Harris reiterated that she felt terrible.

When Harris realized that Biden had lost a step cognitively, Baier asked: “You had no concerns?” Harris defended her boss and turned to the topic of Trump.

Harris tried to point out how unfit Trump is for power, pointing to the numerous Republicans, including military personnel and members of Trump’s team, who have supported her or even referenced Trump as a fascist.

“He’s unfit, he’s unstable, he’s dangerous,” Harris said.

Baier described this as an insult to half the country: “Are the 50 percent misguided? Are they stupid?” Baier said, referring to Trump supporters.

Harris defended himself: “Oh God, I would never say that.”

VIEW | Trump stands by military threats and describes political opponents as an “enemy within”:

Trump stands by military threats and calls political opponents “the enemy within”

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump reiterates his recent controversial statements, including suggesting that he is using military force against political opponents he describes as “the enemy within.”

In fact, she said, Trump is the one who demeans and belittles people. Trump is the one who calls his opponents the Enemy withinshe said. He’s the one who has it talked, for yearsabout turning the American military against Americans.

Baier fought back by playing another video clip – this one was of Trump and flattering him; A soundbite was edited out of Trump using inflammatory language about his opponents, as Harris accused him.

A Harris spokesperson later posted the two different versions of the clip on the social media platform X, showing what Fox had edited out.

The polls are trending towards Trump

As for the interviewer’s earlier point, Trump does indeed continue to have solid support. In fact, the polls did twitched has been slightly in Trump’s favor lately, within the margin of error.

Most national polls still have Harris leading the popular vote, but not all: As of Wednesday, Harris was leading five ahead in a survey by the renowned pollster Marist and two in the back in a survey conducted by Fox News’ respected nonpartisan polling team.

The swing state Surveys Are fewer cheap To Harris.

Whether she wins or not could depend on whether enough moderate, college-educated Republicans, particularly women, change their pathto offset the potential loss of voters of color without college degrees.

On the same day, there were Republicans nearby in the state where Harris gave this interview City with a Latin American majorityRegistration of new voters on a busy street.

Many drivers honked in support or gave a thumbs up as they passed a pro-Trump registration booth on 7th Street in Allentown.

In another nearby swing county, also with a growing Hispanic population, the local Republican leader emphasized that he was seeing a similar movement in his area.

Pete Begley described some new registration numbers as evidence that his party is now the election favorite. He then cited Harris’ new media plan.

“Kamala Harris is now doing interviews with Fox News. This is desperation,” said Begley, the party chairman in Monroe County, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia.

“This is a woman who went 60 days without a press conference? So they’re panicking for one reason: Trump is on the rise.”

The evidence for this is less clear. What is clear is that Harris wanted some former Trump voters to listen to her.

As the interview ended Wednesday and Baier cut her off, Harris quickly invited viewers to go to kamalaharris.com and view 80 pages of her policies on affordable housing, small business and the military.

“That’s why we invited you here,” Baier said after an interview that didn’t touch on any of it.

Afterward, a Fox News panel called Harris evasive. To be fair, she avoided the substance of some of Baier’s questions, starting with that border exchange.

But the panel’s resident Democrat, Harold Ford Jr., insisted she probably came out on top based on her appearance alone. He said an exchange like this benefits the country as people want to know how she jettisoned some of her 2020 campaign policies.

“Appearing on Fox and getting in front of our audience is the right thing to do,” Ford said.