Could Have Been Worse

There are a few things wrong with Katie Phang's perspective here.

It’s disrespectful to cut off Kamala Harris and not allow her to respond to the question.

If you don’t want to hear her answer, then don’t invite her to do the interview. https://t.co/fdoKhJQ6nI

— Katie Phang (@KatiePhang) October 16, 2024

Brett Baier was not disrespectful to Kamala Harris, whom he respectfully called "ma'am." If you don't want to be cut off, try not to filibuster, a common tactic because there is only so much time allotted for the interview. Harris no doubt was aware of that and thus showed up late and ended the interview early. Further, if you don't want to do an interview with a particular journalist, maybe not request him as the interviewer.

Harris dodged Baier's question "how many illegal immigrants would you estimate your administration has released into the country over the last three and a half years?"  So Baier asked "do you regret the decision to terminate the remain in Mexico at the beginning of your administration?" The Vice President then noted

within practically hours of taking the oath, the first bill that we offered Congress, before we worked on infrastructure, before the Inflation Reduction Act, before the Chips and Science Act, before the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the first bill, practically within hours of taking the oath, was a bill to fix our immigration system.

Aside from the last phrase, that is accurate. On the morning of January 29, 2021, Vox explained

On his first day as president on Wednesday, Joe Biden will send an ambitious immigration reform bill to Congress that would create an eight-year path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, bolster border security with new screening technologies, and deliver aid to Central America.

The bill, known as the US Citizenship Act of 2021 and outlined in a four-page summary shared with reporters, would represent the most sweeping immigration reform package passed since 1986.

It marks both a symbolic and substantive break with the restrictionist immigration policies that have defined the last four years under Donald Trump, setting the tone for what Biden promises will be a more welcoming era for immigrants in the US. At its core is a long-awaited proposal to legalize the more than 10.5 million undocumented immigrants currently living in the US, many of whom have lived in fear of being deported and uprooted from their families for years.

If that was "a bill to fix our broken immigration system," "fix" is used very loosely. As Vox implied- without using the loaded term- this was, at base, largely a bill promoting amnesty. In its Fact Sheet, the White House asserted

The bill allows undocumented individuals to apply for temporary legal status, with the ability to apply for green cards after five years if they pass criminal and national security background checks and pay their taxes. Dreamers, TPS holders, and immigrant farmworkers who meet specific requirements are eligible for green cards immediately under the legislation. After three years, all green card holders who pass additional background checks and demonstrate knowledge of English and U.S. civics can apply to become citizens.

Eventually, after complicated legal proceedings, "Remain in Mexico" was reinstated. Eventually, too, a bipartisan bill was crafted but shelved after, learning that the White House supported passage, Donald Trump successfully leaned on Speaker Mike Johnson to refuse to post the bill. The former President was eager to block passage of legislation designed in part to ease pressure on the border and Democrats haven't let him forget it. In the transaction which offended Phang, Harris argued 

..... we worked on supporting what was a bipartisan effort, including some of the most conservative members of the United States Congress, to actually strengthen the border (but Trump) leaned about that bill and told them to kill it because he preferred to run on a problem instead of fixing a problem.

If the former President is at all self-aware, he rues the day he lobbied against the bill because his attitude has become the go-to answer for any Democrat pressed on the border crisis.

On social media, supporters of Kamala Harris have either whined about allegedly disrespectful treatment of the Democratic candidate or maintained that Harris gave Baier an ass-whipping. However, neither assessment is accurate.  As Bill O'Reilly, critical of Baier and especially of Harris, recognized "when the Vice President did not answer direct questions, Baier should have said that to audience, not in a disrespectful way but point out that the question was not answered, 'would you like another chance to answer the question that was asked?'"

Baier did not do that, nor ,when he cut off the interview prematurely because the candidate's handlers so insisted, did he report that to the audience. The supporters of Kamala Harris should be thankful that her campaign remains in effect, virtually unharmed, by an interview which could have gone much worse.

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