‘The View’ Hosts Respond to Fox News Interview with Kamala Harris, Saying Bret Baier ‘Did Himself a Disservice’

In Thursday’s (October 17) edition of The viewthere were a few programming notes that the cohosts needed to review right away: First, Whoopi Goudbergwho is usually present on Thursdays, was absent (en Joy Behar explained that she’s not sick, just had the day off), and second, all five panelists wore purple in honor of Spirit Day and to show support for members of the LGBTQ community. Finally, they also announced that vice presidential candidate Tim Walz would be on the show on Monday (October 21). “We’ll get ’em all!” Behar was happy.

But after that bit of housework, the panelists got straight to work on their first Hot Topic of the day, Kamala Harris’ much-discussed interview with Fox News host Bret Baier.

“Kamala Harris went deep into their territory on Fox News yesterday,” Behar said by way of introduction. “Trump would never go on MSNBC. He can’t even spell it! Harris faced a controversial interview from the very first question, and she had to be her own fact-checker.

The group then watched some of the most viral footage from the interview, in which Harris refused to call Donald Trump’s supporters “stupid” — “I would never say that about the American people,” she declared in the clip — and another clip in which she pushed back on Baier’s choice of footage to illustrate Trump’s statements about “the enemy within” regarding his political opponents.

“So basically she called out his lie in real time, which is refreshing, right?” Behar said. “It is,” Sunny Hostin agreed.

The group then viewed the actual footage at issue, in which he called Democratic officials “Marxists” and “fascists” and insisted that “they are sick,” including most notably Adam Schiff and Nancy Pelosi.

“Bret, he did himself a disservice by what he did,” Hostin responded. “He’s known for providing Fox News, but he ends his show every night with ‘Fair and balanced and unafraid.’ Well, that wasn’t fair and balanced.” Hostin further noted that Baier’s name has been linked to certain scandals at the network in the past, including the suggestion that the network’s Arizona election call for Joe Biden in 2020 should be withdrawn under pressure. “I have a very different opinion of Bret Baier after not only seeing what he did in the clip, but then relating it to his real history,” Hostin added.

Alyssa Farah Griffin praised Harris for agreeing to the interview, saying, “She aspires, she says all the time, to become president for all Americans, including Fox News viewers.” For me it was a mixed bag, and I think that underlines why the country is so polarized and why the race is so close. The right said it was a dumpster, a complete disaster. The left said this was the second coming of JFK. I think it was somewhere in between. She showed up to prove to Fox News viewers that she is not an idiot as Trump has called her. She has mastered the facts and has undermined the idea that she cannot be tough.”

Sara Haines criticized Baier’s handling of the interview, saying, “With the constant jumping in, I couldn’t help but feel that he will continue to do this because she is a woman.” So it was a little hard to watch at times. But I think she did herself a huge favor by going exactly where people are. Meanwhile, Donald Trump is canceling interviews from 60 Minutes to CNBC.”

Anna Navarro expanded on that last point, saying, “I remember Donald Trump from a 60 Minutes interview four years ago – like you just said, he refuses to do it – took off his microphone and stomped over to Leslie Stahl. I remember him throwing Jorge Ramos out of a press conference because he asked him a tough question. I remember him berating Jim Acosta in the White House press room because he didn’t like the questions. Kamala Harris went there and answered the questions about relevant matters. She could have said, “You know what, Bret? You know what, why don’t we just play 39 minutes of music.’”

“She looked like a commander in chief,” Hostin declared to applause from the audience before adding that she thought Harris nailed the needle of being “humble” in the interview. ‘You can’t be passionate. It’s been described as ‘aggressive,'” she explained before criticizing fellow Fox News personality Dana Perino for her assessment that Harris “came excited and then got angrier.” About that Hostin said, “It’s the angry black woman.”

The viewweekdays, 11 a.m. ET, ABC