Ben Shapiro didn’t hold back in his post-mortem of Kamala Harris’ latest interview with Bret Baier, and to be fair, it’s hard to disagree with him.
If you watched it, you know exactly what he’s talking about. Harris walked into that Fox News interview looking like she had been prepped with all the usual talking points, ready to deflect and redirect every tough question. But as Shapiro so perfectly put it, the whole thing turned into a “full-scale disaster area” for her presidential campaign. And if this is a preview of what we can expect from her on the campaign trail, it’s no wonder 79% of Americans think the country is on the wrong track.
Shapiro nailed the first major issue: immigration. When Baier pressed Harris on the Biden administration’s decision to undo Trump’s executive orders on border security—decisions that have directly led to the surge of illegal immigration over the past four years—Harris did what she does best: she pivoted. Instead of owning up to the chaos that’s unfolded at the border, Harris tried to sidestep the whole issue. Shapiro pointed out that all she had to do was admit they messed up at the start, that maybe reversing Trump’s policies wasn’t the brightest idea, and say they’re working to fix it now. But nope. Kamala can’t have that. Instead, she got defensive and refused to take any responsibility.
Then came the really rich part: when Harris claimed she wouldn’t be a “continuation” of Joe Biden’s presidency. Really? Because just last week, she was singing a different tune on The View when she said there wasn’t a single thing she would do differently from Biden. Shapiro didn’t miss the opportunity to point out this blatant contradiction. Harris, of course, tried to sell herself as this “new generation of leadership,” which is funny considering she’s been Biden’s right-hand woman for three and a half years and can’t seem to name a single policy she disagrees with.
Let’s talk about her pitch to “turn the page” from the current administration. Baier pressed her hard on why nearly 80% of Americans believe the country is on the wrong track under Biden and Harris. But instead of addressing the actual problems Americans are facing—like inflation, crime, and border security—Harris just kept circling back to Trump, as if somehow his name is a magic eraser for all the failures of the past few years. Shapiro called her out for this, and rightfully so. It’s all she’s got at this point—talking about Trump and hoping people forget that she’s been in power during one of the most chaotic administrations in modern history.
Shapiro’s final jab is probably the most telling: Harris looked “angry” that Baier even had the audacity to ask her tough questions. She didn’t just stumble through the interview—she looked annoyed that anyone would dare challenge her on actual policy. That’s the real problem here. She doesn’t know her own policies well enough to defend them, and when you dig even slightly below the surface, there’s nothing there. Just empty rhetoric and more finger-pointing at Trump.
“The only thing she’s got at all in this election cycle, the only thing she’s got and everybody knows it is” talking about Trump, he continued. “But here is the problem: the minute you dig below the surface, what you realize is that she is an empty vessel for the entire Biden administration agenda. And she’s not particularly smart. She doesn’t know her own policies well enough to make cogent and interesting distinctions about how her policies work. She doesn’t understand how to defend the policies that she has herself put into place.”
My instant reaction to Kamala Harris’ interview with Bret Baier. Let’s just say it didn’t go well. As in, the Hindenburg levels of not well. pic.twitter.com/HuLFkLv9rS
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) October 16, 2024
Here’s how the Harris campaign responded…
The Harris campaign’s rapid response team has posted a clip of her Fox appearance on Instagram with this caption: “Went into the lions’ den and ate 🔥🔥🔥” pic.twitter.com/569vQE38yh
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) October 17, 2024
Shapiro summed it up perfectly: Harris is an “empty vessel” for the Biden administration’s agenda. She can’t defend her record, she doesn’t have any fresh ideas, and she certainly doesn’t inspire confidence in the vast majority of Americans who already think the country is heading in the wrong direction. If this is the best she can do in a high-profile interview, it’s going to be a long road ahead for her campaign.
