Vice President Kamala Harris' first conversation with Fox News was a ratings success on Wednesday, with 7.1 million viewers watching, according to preliminary Nielsen data shared by the network.
The denunciation by “Special Report” host and chief political anchor Bret Baier was the third most-watched event of the 2024 campaign for Democratic candidates, and the Republican candidate's Sept. 10 It was second only to the debate with Donald Trump (67.1 million viewers) and the Aug. 10 debate. Acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention on the 22nd (28.9 million viewers).
Notably, the Fox News interview marked Harris, 59,'s first media appearance since becoming the Democratic nominee (during a gabfest with CNN's Dana Bash on Aug. 29) (attracted more viewers than the TV program). By Nielsen Media Research.
Wednesday's showdown had more than four times the viewership. Fox News Channel averages 1,571,000 daytime viewers About the third quarter of this year.
The 26-minute sparring match between Baier and Harris was President Biden's first interview since his disastrous debate with President Trump on June 27, which drew 8.5 million viewers to ABC News on July 5. Viewer ratings were low.
But it topped Harris' recent “60 Minutes” appearance (5.7 million viewers)MSNBC's “The 11th Hour” with Stephanie Ruhl (1.8 million viewers); ABC News' “The View” (3.1 million); and CBS' “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” (2.9 million).
Fox News also aired a town hall in which Trump fielded questions from female voters earlier Wednesday, which drew 2.9 million viewers.
In preparation for the interview, the vice president showed up 17 minutes late, Baier said, and the vice president's team significantly cut back on the time she was scheduled to give to networks the campaign considered hostile.
During the interview, Mr. Baier, 54, grilled Ms. Harris on a variety of issues, aggressively interjecting her when he felt she was filibustering or using platitudes.
In the end, the host attempted to end the interview by acknowledging on air that Harris' staff had been “very hard on me here.”
Prior to the interview, Fox News Poll released showing Trump leading Harris The difference is 2 percentage points (50% to 48%) among voters nationwide.
