Fox News anchor Bret Baier publicly acknowledged that he erred during his interview with Kamala Harris by failing to include a video of a statement made by Donald Trump, a point that Harris highlighted during their discussion.
Baier’s reflection on this mistake came a day after the interview aired, which attracted close to 8 million viewers and marked Harris’ first detailed conversation with a Fox News journalist in the lead-up to the elections.
Despite Baier’s acknowledgment, the specifics of the mistake he referenced were somewhat unclear.
The notable exchange regarding the Trump video unfolded after Harris criticized her Republican rival for suggesting he might need to summon the National Guard or military to confront “the enemy within,” labeling them as “radical left lunatics.”
In response to Harris’s critique, Baier mentioned that his colleague Harris Faulkner had previously confronted Trump about his “enemy within” remarks earlier that day. He proceeded to show a clip of Trump asserting that he was not threatening anyone, while dismissing what he termed “phony investigations” against him, even throwing in a humorous comment that earned laughter from his audience.
Harris, however, objected, stating, “Bret, I’m sorry, and with all due respect, that clip was not what he has been saying about the enemy within … that’s not what you just showed.”
The following day, Baier elaborated that when he requested video footage for the interview, he anticipated receiving two clips: one featuring Trump’s “enemy within” statement made to Maria Bartiromo and the one from Faulkner’s town hall that was aired during the interview with Harris.
To clarify his intention, Baier played both clips in a segment on Thursday, stating, “Take a listen to what I meant to roll.”
However, during the initial interview, he did not indicate that it was his plan to show the “enemy within” comments, even when prompted by Harris. This led to skepticism regarding his claim of making a mistake, as many online voiced doubts.
One former Fox News anchor, Gretchen Carlson, commented on social media, saying, “Newsflash: When wrong clips run (which happens) hosts can easily say `Sorry that was the wrong clip.’ He or his producers would have known it was the wrong one right then.”
As of Friday, there was no immediate response from a Fox News representative to clarify Baier’s statements.
