Donald Trump’s friendly Fox News town hall vs. Kamala Harris’ unfriendly Fox News interview

Well, that went down about as you would expect.

Donald Trump did a town hall on Fox News that looked like a campaign rally. Kamala Harris did an interview on Fox News that looked like a debate.

It all played out on TV on Wednesday.

Let’s start with what aired first: Trump’s town hall about women’s issues in front of an all-female audience. The setting could not have been more comfortable for Trump if they had given him a warm cup of cocoa, fluffy pillows and somewhere to prop up his feet.

The event was held in Cumming, Georgia, on Tuesday and aired on Fox News on Wednesday.

Trump was met by an enthusiastic crowd and a welcoming host — Fox News’ Harris Faulkner, who didn’t exactly remind anyone of a hard-hitting journalist covering a critical election.

NPR’s Danielle Kurtzleben wrote, “The crowd was overwhelmingly supportive of the former president, frequently bursting into loud cheers. Faulkner also was friendly — she was critical of Democratic efforts to ‘prebut’ the town hall with a press call Tuesday and shook her head silently after playing a clip of Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock from that Democratic press call.”

Wait, there’s more. CNN’s Hadas Gold and Liam Reilly reported, “Fox News did not disclose that the female audience it selected for the event was packed with local Republican supporters and the network edited its broadcast to remove some of their vocal advocacy of Trump. The Georgia Federation of Republican Women wrote on its Facebook page Wednesday that the group helped host the event, posting photos from the venue and writing they were ‘Super excited for the opportunity of hosting this event right here in Georgia!’”

Gold and Reilly added, “Shortly after CNN reached out to the group and Fox News about their role, the post was edited to state they were ‘excited for the opportunity of attending this event right here in Georgia!’”

And Gold and Reilly reported:

Some of the town hall attendees made it clear they were supporters of the former president, either in their questioning or in their attire.

“I want to thank you for coming to a room full of women the current administration would consider domestic terrorists,” a woman named Alicia said to laughter from the audience before a question about foreign policy.

But a portion of Alicia’s question was edited by Fox News to remove her admission that she was voting for Trump.

“I proudly cast my vote for you today. I hope they count it,” she added, according to an audio recording from a CNN reporter in attendance.

While it’s common for a pre-taped event or interview to be edited for time, Alicia’s short remark came in the middle of her question, which remained intact on the broadcast.

During another moment missing from Fox’s broadcast, Trump asked the crowd who they were voting for, leading to a chant of “Trump, Trump” breaking out by the attendees.

As far as Trump, Kurtzleben wrote, “On many questions, Trump did not give clear answers. When Faulkner pressed him on what he could realistically get done with Congress on immigration, he did not answer, but instead slammed Biden and Harris’ record on the border. … At other times, his answers left out key context.”

(Here is Poynter’s PolitiFact’s live fact-check of the town hall.)

Trump had plenty of rambling answers, including saying he was the “father of IVF.”

As The New York Times’ Maggie Astor noted, “The Supreme Court justices Mr. Trump appointed enabled the overturning of Roe v. Wade, a ruling that he has praised and that opened the door to possible restrictions on in vitro fertilization.”

Trump said in the town hall, “We really are the party for IVF. … We want fertilization, and it’s all the way, and the Democrats tried to attack us on it, and we’re out there on IVF, even more than them.”

Astor wrote, “Congressional Republicans have voted twice in the past four months to block bills that would protect the legality of I.V.F., including one that would also guarantee insurance coverage of it, which Mr. Trump has said he wants to do.”

Karoline Leavitt, a spokesperson for the Trump campaign, said the “father of IVF” remark was “a joke President Trump made in jest when he was enthusiastically answering a question about IVF”

During the town hall, Trump also doubled down on the comments he made to Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo over the weekend about his political opponents being the “enemy from within” who are more dangerous than foreign adversaries. Trump said in the town hall, “It is the enemy from within, and they’re very dangerous.”

Trump added, “I’m not threatening anybody. They’re the ones threatening. … They’re the threat to democracy.”

Kamala Harris called Trump’s comments “unhinged.”

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Now to Harris’ Fox News interview …

I was wrong. I said in Wednesday’s email that Fox News’ Bret Baier would conduct a tough, but fair interview with Kamala Harris. As it turned out, the interview was contentious, with Baier interrupting and talking over Harris in what often felt like a debate and not an interview.

NBC News’ Peter Nicholas described the interview as “combative.” The New York Times’ Nicholas Nehamas and Michael Gold called it “contentious.” HuffPost’s Igor Bobic called it “combative and at times tense.”

It’s fine for a journalist to be vigorous in their style. There’s nothing wrong with tough questions. And Baier did bring up some fair topics. But what Baier did was way too intrusive to be effective.

More than once, Harris asked Baier to let her finish responding to his questions. At another point, Baier said, “We’re talking over each other” even though it was Baeir who kept trying to talk over Harris.

In the Times, Nehamas and Gold wrote that Baier interrupted Harris “repeatedly.” They also noted that Baier pressed Harris with Trump talking points. Politico’s Kierra Frazier wrote, “(Baier) recycled Republican talking points into accusations and frequently interrupted the vice president.”

MSNBC commentator and former Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill tweeted, “I figured @BretBaier would be tough. I didn’t think he would be downright rude and disrespectful. The VP did great. She is strong. He is scared.”

Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin tweeted, “By interrupting @BretBaier is showing he is rightwing lap dog. Also makes her look steady.”

The New York Times’ Michael Grynbaum wrote, “It seems Baier has taken an aggressive tack in this interview in an attempt to shake Harris off her talking points. But his frequent interruptions remind me of Matt Lauer talking over Hillary Clinton during a televised NBC forum in September 2016.”

Baier did hit on some pertinent issues, with immigration being a major focus early in the interview and certainly fair game to press Harris on.

But, overall and unfortunately, it seemed as if Baier was more worried about what Fox News viewers and MAGA types would think as opposed to citizens who wanted more clarity on who they will vote for.

Nevertheless, Harris might have scored some points.

Mediaite’s Aidan McLaughlin tweeted, “Harris is performing far better in this combative interview with Bret Baier than she has in the many friendly interviews she's done lately.”

Journalist Mehdi Hasan tweeted, “I wouldn’t go on Fox and I often say Dems shouldn’t go on Fox. It’s a propaganda network. But this is the best media performance that I’ve seen from Harris for a while, she does way better here, way more passion talking Trump, than when facing softballs from Colbert, etc.”

Baier seemingly tried to play gotcha with Harris at one point when he asked about Trump supporters, saying, “So are they misguided, the 50%? Are they stupid?”

Without hesitation, Harris said, “I would never say that about the American people.”

It was one of her finer moments in the interview, reminding Baier that it is Trump who denigrates those who don't support him. She said, “If you listen to Donald Trump, if you watch any of his rallies, he's the one who tends to demean and belittle and diminish the American people.”

At another point, Harris called out Fox News and Baier for playing a clip of something I mentioned in the item above — that Trump said, “I’m not threatening anybody. They’re the ones threatening.”

Harris said, “Bret, I’m sorry and with all due respect, that clip is not what he has been saying about the enemy within — that he has repeated when talking about the American people.”

Baier said that was simply the answer Trump gave earlier in the day, but Harris went on to say, “He has repeated (the “enemy within” line) many times and you and I both know that. And you and I both know that he talked about turning the American military on the American people. He has talked about going after people who are engaged in peaceful protests. He has talked about locking people up because they disagree with him. This is a democracy! And in a democracy, the president of the United States of America should be willing to be able to handle criticism without saying he would lock people up for doing it. And this is what is at stake.”

In the end, who knows if Harris’ appearance on Fox News moved the needle in any way?

What we do know is that Baier’s credibility took a bit of a hit from many news observers outside the Fox News/conservative media bubble.

Journalist Aaron Rupar tweeted, “That's it for Kamala Harris's Fox News interview with Bret Baier, which mostly felt like Baier's audition to become Trump's White House communications director.”

Here is PolitiFact’s fact-check of the Harris interview on Fox News.

Former politician sentenced for murder of journalist

A former Nevada politician found guilty of murdering a journalist who was reporting on him was sentenced Wednesday. Robert Telles, a former Clark County public administrator, was sentenced to 28 years to life in prison for the murder of Las Vegas Review-Journal investigative reporter Jeff German in September 2022. District Judge Michelle Leavitt gave Telles the maximum sentence she could impose.

A jury found Telles guilty of first-degree murder with a deadly weapon against a victim 60 or older in August. German was murdered in front of his home after writing articles about Telles’ conduct as an elected official. There were allegations that German had created a toxic work environment and had an affair with a staffer.

Katelyn Newberg of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported, “Telles did not express remorse during Wednesday’s sentencing hearing. He stood in a dark blue Clark County Detention Center uniform, staring at prosecutors as they addressed the judge. He turned towards German’s family when the judge asked if he would like to address the court, and said that he expressed his ‘deepest condolences’ to the family.”

Telles said, “I understand the desire to seek justice and to have somebody accountable for this, but I did not kill Mr. German,” Telles said.

Review-Journal executive editor Glenn Cook said in a statement, “There is relief in the Las Vegas Review-Journal's offices because Robert Telles finally is headed to prison, hopefully for the rest of his life. His steadfast refusal to accept responsibility or show a hint of remorse for the barbaric murder of Jeff German should ensure he is never paroled. We'll never forget Jeff. His killing remains an immeasurable loss for his family, friends, colleagues and community, and for journalism itself.”

Upon further review

This week, Tom Brady became a minority owner (5%) of the Las Vegas Raiders. But he keeps his other job — the one that pays him $375 million over the next 10 years to be the analyst on Fox Sports’ No. 1 NFL announcing team.

After his ownership stake became official, a list of what Brady is now not allowed to do started circulating on social media. For example, now that he’s involved in ownership of a team, Brady cannot:

• Go into another team’s facilities.
• Watch another team’s practice.
• Attend network production meetings with players and coaches from other teams.
• Publicly criticize other teams or game officials.

So, immediately, many started to ask: How then can he do his job as a broadcaster with all those restrictions?

That thought briefly crossed my mind, but then I reached out to some sources in the NFL and broadcasting business and they all seem to have the same take: Brady’s job as a broadcaster won’t be noticeably affected.

For starters, if Brady wants to talk to a coach or player, he doesn’t need to go to a production meeting. All he has to do is pick up the phone. He’s Tom Brady. People will answer his call. No one is going to share (or not share) something over the phone that they wouldn’t share with him in a production meeting. And as far as those production meetings, Brady’s colleagues will surely fill him in on anything said that he needs to know.

Brady doesn’t need to watch practices to see what a team is doing. He already is watching something way more valuable: game film.

Lastly, as far as being critical of a team or official, Brady can easily walk that line. The NFL isn’t going to make a fuss if Brady questions a holding penalty or says an official missed a pass interference call. The NFL is more concerned about him questioning the integrity of officials, which is something Brady (or any network broadcaster) would never do anyway.

As far as teams, OK, so maybe Brady can’t criticize an owner or call for a coach to get fired. But, again, when does a broadcaster ever do that? And, surely, Brady can maybe get that point across subtly.

In the end, the NFL is going to give Brady a lot of leeway because they want to be in business with him. The same can be said of Fox Sports. For what it’s worth, Brady has been abiding by these restrictions from the start of the season.

And, check this out: ESPN’s Kalyn Kahler reported, “The Dallas Cowboys, who have had Brady's Fox broadcast crew four times this season, are one of the teams that would prefer Brady be in production meetings during the week. Cowboys communications executive Tad Carper told ESPN that he has informed Fox producers, as well as the league office, that Cowboys coaches want Brady to be in production meetings so he can have the full context to explain their decision-making in games to the Fox audience.”

So, this idea that Brady can’t be an effective announcer because of these league restrictions does feel like a stretch.

Here’s the bigger question: Now that he has an ownership stake in the Raiders, how long will Brady want to be a broadcaster? He is just a couple of months into a 10-year deal. Many in sports media circles have expressed doubts that Brady will finish the contract, and now that he has another connection to the NFL, those doubts might grow stronger.

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Media tidbits

• A few days old, but catch up on this terrific story from The Washington Post’s Michael Kranish about Kamala Harris’ high school days in Canada: “These five tumultuous years in Montreal shaped Kamala Harris.”
• Yikes, quite the messy details in this whole Olivia Nuzzi-Robert Kennedy Jr. affair story, which also involves Nuzzi’s ex-fiance Ryan Lizza of Politico. (Nuzzi is on leave from New York magazine as the publication investigates her work covering the former presidential candidate.) CNN’s Katelyn Polantz has details, including this: “In a filing this week in Washington, DC’s Superior Court, Lizza said Kennedy, the former presidential candidate and subject of a Nuzzi profile last year in New York magazine, had manipulated the journalist, telling her that he wanted to ‘possess,’ ‘control’ and ‘impregnate’ her.”
• The Los Angeles Times’ Laura J. Nelson and James Rainey with “Elon Musk hoped Trump would ‘sail into the sunset.’ Now he works frenetically to elect him.”
• The New York Times’ Benjamin Mullin with “Washington Post C.E.O. Elevates Deal-Making to a Top Priority.”
• Catching up on this important story from a couple of days ago. CNN’s Ivana Kottasová, Svitlana Vlasova and Kostya Gak with “Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchyna dies in Russian detention, Kyiv says.”
• Comedian Jerry Seinfeld was quoted in an interview with The New Yorker last April as saying, “You just expected, there’ll be some funny stuff we can watch on TV tonight. Well, guess what? Where is it? This is the result of the extreme left and PC crap, and people worrying so much about offending other people.” Well, on this week’s episode of the “Breaking Bread with Tom Papa” podcast, Seinfeld walked back those comments, saying, “I don’t think, as I said, ‘the extreme left’ has done anything to inhibit the art of comedy. I’m taking that back officially.” NBC News’ Daysia Tolentino has more.

Hot type

For today’s Hot Type, I direct you to a terrific story on the Poynter website. Pete Croatto writes about how a website that should have been a smashing success just ended up being smashed into a thousand pieces in, “How Sellout Crowd, the Oklahoma sports website, went from anticipated startup to heartbreaking disaster in 8 months.”

Sellout Crowd had major talent, a strong editorial leader, some big-time names who were supposedly backing it financially and all the makings of being a local-ish sports site that could rival (or even beat) any newspaper or outlet. What it didn’t have was the right person in charge of the whole thing.

How it started and then how it unraveled is both fascinating and depressing.

More resources for journalists

• It’s time to apply for the Leadership Academy for Women in Media
• Dynamic, in-person, five-day workshop for new newsroom managers.
• Reinvigoration for the unsung heroes of the TV newsroom.

Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at [email protected].