(The Center Square) – Vice President Kamala Harris sparred with Fox News host Bret Baier on immigration, the economy and former President Donald Trump in an exclusive interview on Wednesday night.
Harris said that Trump does not want to “participate in solutions,” while stating that her presidency will provide a “new way forward” for the country.
The 28-minute interview was filled with tense moments as Baier and Harris discussed the issues just 20 days from Election Day.
Much of the interview was spent on immigration, as Baier tried to get Harris to answer a series of questions.
The first question Baier asked was how many illegal immigrants Harris thinks have entered the country since she first took office in 2021.
“I’m glad you raised the issue of immigration because I agree with you,” Harris said. “It is a topic of discussion that people want to rightly have.”
She refused to give a number, instead stating she wished to “get to the point.”
“We have a broken immigration system that needs to be repaired,” Harris said. “It is a priority for us as a nation and for the American people. Our focus has been on fixing a problem, from day one.”
Yet, since fiscal year 2021, at least 14 million illegal immigrants have crossed the southern border into the country, The Center Square exclusively reported. That is the greatest number under any administration in U.S. history.
Harris said the Biden-Harris administration increased the number of border agents and “what we needed to do to tighten up penalties and increase penalties for illegal crossings.”
She acknowledged that there’s more to be done.
“I think we’ve had a broken immigration system transcending, by the way, Donald Trump’s administration and even before,” Harris said. “I’ve been clear . . . that it needs to be fixed.”
Baier also asked for Harris’ thoughts on the National Border Patrol Council, the union representing roughly 16,000 Border Patrol agents nationwide, endorsing Trump for president.
“I think they are frustrated and I get it, they want support,” Harris said. “These men and women are working hard. They are working around the clock. I get it.”
Harris called for an end to “political games” around illegal immigration, arguing that Republicans purposefully killed a bill earlier this year that would have added additional border security. Actually, the measured stalled in the Democrat-controlled U.S. Senate, and critics noted that the bill would have allowed an additional two million foreign nationals into the country a year, The Center Square reported.
Baier also asked Harris about the murders of Jocelyn Nungaray, Rachel Morin and Laken Riley by violent foreign nationals released into in the U.S. illegally by the Biden-Harris administration, and whether she owed their families an apology. Harris didn’t apologize, calling the murders “tragic cases.” When pressed again by Baier on whether she owed them an apology, Harris said, “I will tell you that I’m so sorry for her loss,” before changing the subject to Trump.
Baier and Harris also spent a while talking about her opponent, Trump.
“He spent $20 million on those ads trying to create a sense of fear in the voters, because he actually has no plan in this election that is about focusing on the needs of the American people,” Harris said.
When asked by Baier why the American people consistently say in polling they trust Trump more on the economy than Harris, the vice president turned it back to Trump.
“I do believe the American people are ready to turn the page on the divisiveness and the type of rhetoric that has come out of Donald Trump,” Harris said. “People are ready to chart a new way forward, and they want a president who has a plan for the future and a plan that is sound and will strengthen our country.”
Inflation skyrocketed to 40-year highs during the Biden-Harris administration, with costs today more than 20% higher than when Harris took office in 2021.
Throughout the election, building a new image has been a challenge for Harris. In an interview last week, she said that she would not have done anything differently from Biden if she was president.
Yet, in another critical moment of Wednesday’s interview, Harris stated that her “presidency will not be a continuation of Joe Biden’s presidency,” instead promising “fresh and new ideas.”
When Baier asked how she plans to “turn the page” from her current term as vice president, Harris said she plans to turn “the page from the last decade” and from Trump’s rhetoric.
“[Trump] talked about locking people up because they disagreed with him,” Harris said. “This is a democracy.”
Trumpo faces four separate indictments since he left office, two brought by the Biden-Harris Justice Department.
This article was originally published at www.thecentersquare.com
