Epic fight: Under pressure from Fox News, Kamala Harris comes out swinging

Kamala Harris' first interview on Fox News was a contentious affair, and at times she and Bret Baier talked over each other.

But while the vice president continued to dodge some questions, there were also a few moments when it seemed like she was trying to stand up to her least favorite network – undoubtedly something she was hoping to achieve.

WHY TRUMP, FIGHTING THE HOSTILITY OF THE MEDIA, DECLARES WAR ON THE FACT CHECKERS

Showing passion, even anger, she raised her voice to a question about how most of the country believed we were on the wrong path and said Donald Trump was “unfit for service” and “unstable.” Turning questions into broadsides against the former president was her trademark.

But what about half the country that supports him, Baier asked. “Are they stupid?”

A side by side of Bret Baier and Kamala Harris. (Fox News Media/Getty Images)

No, but “he's the one who tends to demean, belittle and belittle,” Harris said. Trump is the one who talks about an “enemy within” and uses the military against the Americans. “He talks about locking people up because they disagree with him.”

She told Baier several times, “You and I both know it,” before throwing a grenade at Trump and trying to give the impression that she was pushing back against both Fox and her opponent. She wanted this fight.

As a cautious Kamala loses momentum, Democrats are panicking about a Trump victory

Among the questions Harris declined to answer:

Does she support taxpayer-funded transgender surgeries for federal inmates like she did in 2019? “I will follow the law,” she said flatly, insisting that Trump had done the same. (The Trump camp responded that the first such operation took place in 2022, during their term.)

Didn't she know that Joe Biden had been weakened? She danced around it.

Bret Baier interviews Kamala Harris on Fox News. (Fox News Channel)

Why hasn't she made progress on these issues during her time as vice president?

“My presidency will not be a continuation of Joe Biden’s presidency,” she said, noting that she has not spent most of her life in Washington. This was a make-up for her disastrous reaction on The View, that she couldn't think of anything that differed from the president.

TRUMP CONTROLS HARRIS MEDIA BLITZ BY DESTROYING BOB WOODWARD, HOWARD STERN AND THEIR HURRICANE BRIEFING

The Fox host spent the first part of the interview on the topic of immigration, repeatedly reaching back to nail it down.

First, Harris acknowledged the obvious: “We have a broken immigration system that needs to be fixed.”

Why didn't you fix it? Trump scuttled their latest attempt to introduce a bipartisan bill, although nothing was achieved as Democrats controlled both chambers of Congress.

Laken Riley's murder shocked the nation. (ELIJAH NOUVELAGE/AFP via Getty Images)

Had she changed her position since her 2019 election campaign when she said border crossings should be legalized?

“I don’t believe in decriminalizing border crossings,” Harris replied, without explaining the change.

When asked about crimes committed by illegal immigrants, such as the killing of Laken Riley, Harris called them “tragic cases” and said her heart goes out to their families.

There were times when her answers seemed meager and other times when she offered a litany of her suggestions.

The confrontational session was Harris' first of this short campaign, after a series of softball sessions where people openly supported her candidacy.

Fox News got the exclusivity, and Harris got what she wanted: a defiant half-hour in which she could try to change the minds of cable news's largest audience by far.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

She should ditch her friends like Howard Stern and Stephen Colbert and do tougher interviews because that's how you show voters you can handle the pressure.