Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, is set to sit for an interview on Fox News this week, marking a significant shift in her media strategy of dodging media coverage.
The interview, scheduled for Wednesday, October 16, in Pennsylvania, comes as Harris faces mounting pressure to save her failing campaign and reach American voters.
And Fox News wants to hear from you about questions you have for the Democratic nominee..!?
Take a look —
I want to hear from you— what would you ask @vp Harris? Send them to me here or on Instagram @bretbaier. pic.twitter.com/3rQBNmX1iG
— Bret Baier (@BretBaier) October 14, 2024
Fox News announced that Harris will sit down with Baier for an interview that will air on “Special Report” at 6 p.m. ET on Wednesday. Baier, a moderate, will anchor the show from Pennsylvania, a crucial battleground state in the upcoming election.
This interview represents a departure from Harris’s previous media strategy, which has been blasted for hiding her on friendly mainstream media outlets.
“Harris has certainly made policy proposals and done a bunch of softball interviews. But she made a big mistake on ‘The View,’ saying she couldn’t think of a single thing where she’d differ from Joe Biden. It was not intended as a gotcha question,” Howard Kurtz recently said.
The decision to appear on Fox News comes at a critical juncture for the Harris campaign.
Recent polls have shown a narrow race between Harris and her Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump. Harris has dropped significantly in polling since September, and is on her back heels heading into the election just weeks away.
Harris’s campaign has faced challenges in recent weeks, with reports of internal tensions and struggles to connect with key voter demographics.
“Despite raising a billion dollars, despite overwhelmingly positive coverage by the mainstream media, she has failed to deliver a compelling message and is especially struggling to win over Black and Latino voters,” Kurtz noted.
Bret Baier himself commented on the strategic shift, stating on air, “I think that the campaign realizes they have to do more outreach.” He added, “There’s a sense that they have inside the campaign, their strategy has to change, they’ve got to change. They’re losing Black males.”
Baier’s “Special Report” is “regularly among the most-watched programs in cable news,” offering Harris a chance to reach a large audience — but exposes her to tougher questioning than she has faced in recent appearances.
Will this move prove to be the Harris campaign death rattle?