By Nandita Bose, Stephanie Kelly
WASHINGTON CROSSING, Pennsylvania (Reuters) -Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris was grilled in a TV interview on Wednesday on the Biden administration’s efforts to tackle a surge in illegal immigration at the southern border, and laid the blame on Republicans for failing to pass a border bill.
In a combative interview with Fox News host Bret Baier, Harris was also pressed to defend President Joe Biden’s mental fitness, her years as vice president and previous support of gender-affirming surgery for transgender inmates. Harris and Baier frequently talked over each other and Harris grew visibly frustrated.
She was asked to defend the administration’s early decision to reverse some of Republican rival Donald Trump’s restrictive policies, and to respond to a mother who testified in Congress about the loss of her daughter at the hands of an illegal immigrant.
“I’m so sorry for her loss, but let’s talk about what is happening right now,” Harris said. She said Trump told Republicans to reject a bipartisan immigration bill because “he preferred to run on a problem instead of fixing a problem.”
Asked about her recent comment that there was “not a thing” she would change about the actions of the Biden administration, Harris said, “Let me be very clear, my presidency will not be a continuation of Joe Biden’s presidency,” but did not provide specifics.
Harris was pressed about her previous vouching for Biden’s mental fitness for office before he ended his reelection campaign in July.
Biden has the “judgment” and “experience” to be president, she said, while questioning Trump’s fitness for office.
“Joe Biden is not on the ballot, and Donald Trump is,” Harris said.
She was pressed on her position on using taxpayer funds for gender-affirming surgery for transgender inmates, including those who are undocumented. Trump has spent millions of dollars in ads on the subject in battleground states.
“I will follow the law,” she said a few times, noting that the U.S. Bureau of Prisons provided gender-affirming treatments under Trump. She accused him of “throwing stones when you live in a glass house.”
The nearly 30-minute interview marked the first time Harris has appeared on the media network as a presidential candidate. Within minutes of the interview’s end, the Trump campaign released a statement calling it a “train wreck.”
COURTING REPUBLICANS
The interview was part of a direct appeal by Harris on Wednesday to Republican voters in this year’s U.S. presidential election, as she highlighted Republican support for her campaign in a battleground county in Pennsylvania before appearing on conservative-leaning Fox News.
Earlier, in Bucks County, outside of Philadelphia, Harris emphasized Trump’s attempt to overturn his election loss four years ago, when he lost the White House to Biden.
Harris said Trump’s actions violated the U.S. Constitution and that, if given the chance, he will violate it again.
“He refused to accept the will of the people and the results of a free and fair election. He sent a mob, an armed mob, to the United States Capitol, where they violently assaulted police officers, law enforcement officials and threatened the life of his own vice president,” Harris said.
Over 100 Republicans joined Harris in Bucks County, including Adam Kinzinger, a former congressman and member of the committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of then-President Trump.
“No matter your party, no matter who you voted for last time, there is a place for you in this campaign,” Harris said.
Harris led Trump by a marginal 46% to 43% in a recent Reuters poll.
Trump on Wednesday participated in a town hall hosted by Univision. And Fox News aired a separate Trump town hall with an all-women audience.
Harris has previously attempted to court voters disillusioned by Trump. Earlier this month, former Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney, daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, urged voters to put country over party and vote for Harris, saying that Trump was not fit to lead the U.S.
Biden beat Trump in Bucks County by about 17,000 votes in the 2020 election, while former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton beat Trump in the 2016 election by fewer than 3,000 votes, according to county data.
This summer, Republicans overtook Democrats in the number of voter registrations in Bucks County for the first time in a generation. Republicans currently have some 3,500 more voters in the county than Democrats, according to the latest data.
She is also weighing joining the podcaster Joe Rogan, whose show reaches millions of men across the political spectrum, and who has joked that a “puppet master” was behind Harris’ strong debate performance against Trump.
(Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw in Philadelphia, Stephanie Kelly in New York and Nandita Bose in Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania; Editing by Heather Timmons, Jonathan Oatis and Matthew Lewis)
