US Vice President Kamala Harris will make her first-ever Fox News interview on Wednesday, marking a milestone in relations between the Biden administration and the conservative news network. So far, Kamala Harris has shunned interviews with Fox News since taking office in 2021.
A New Approach to Media Engagement
The move for Harris to speak on Fox News may be a harbinger of a change in the approach of the Biden administration to media engagement ahead of the 2024 presidential election. In the past, Vice President Harris and other major Biden officials have appeared in left-leaning or center and left-leaning news networks much more regularly. The interview could be a means to reach conservative and swing voters if he speaks directly to Fox News audiences who have been critical of his Biden administration.
Fox News, one of the country’s most-watched cable news networks, with a strong viewership among Republican and right-leaning audiences. The move to join the network for an interview suggests increasing recognition within the administration that a new strategy of communication is required.
What to Look for in the Interview
Given just how wide-ranging the national and international issues being discussed are, they are sure to include discussing those matters: from the administration’s handling of the economy to immigration and border security—always pressing issues of discussion for Fox News viewers.
Harris will be faced with some very tough questions on the policies pursued in the Biden administration on matters such as inflation, crime, and foreign relations especially given the international crises sweeping through the world and the nearness of the 2024 election season.
Of course, the record of the Vice President on key issues like voting rights, her leadership on immigration, and how the administration has responded to climate change all could be another source of debate topics. Harris is going to have a chance to lay out what the administration has accomplished and why these are policies she believes should be kept in place before an ostensively conservative audience.
Why This Interview Matters
This interview comes at a crucial time because President Joe Biden and Vice President Harris are preparing for their campaign re-election, and actually, Biden has already mentioned that he is going to run for a second term in 2024. The vice president will probably play a very significant part in the campaign. It gives the administration a chance to address the feelings of a part of the population that has been among the toughest to win over.
Furthermore, the interview would be an opportunity for Harris to show herself to the more influential political personalities since there had been doubts about her role and presence in the Biden administration. Harris has been criticized, both by the right and the left, about what some viewed as underperformance as Vice President, not necessarily on the policy issues but, in particular, about handling of the immigration portfolio and generally for having a relatively low public profile.
Perhaps this Fox interview is Harris’s move to reassert her leadership and regain the prominence as the next-in-line leader, but also to reach over the Biden administration’s gap toward the more conservative viewers.
A Turning Point?
For Fox News, the interview will be an opportunity to question one of the Democrat Party’s higher-ups on matters of deep concern to its viewership. Harris’s visit may also spawn more dialogue on both sides of the aisle between the administration and media outlets who have been almost inevitably at odds with each other.
The interview might end up being the turning point as far as the new Biden-Harris administration’s and how they approach the conservative media landscape: it might encourage more direct engagement between some key officials and Fox News, among others.
Tune in Wednesday to see Vice President Kamala Harris sit down for the first time on Fox News, where she’ll discuss the biggest challenges facing this country and explain the administration’s record heading into the 2024 election.
