Unpopular opinion: I enjoyed the FOX News interview with VP Harris and Bret Baier
'Saturday Night Live' finally made me laugh while reenacting a political interview
I have a confession to make. I was too annoyed to make it through the “60 Minutes” interview with journalist Bill Whitaker. My other confession? I enjoyed the “Special Report” interview with Bret Baier. While anybody with working ears, eyes and a brain knows that Donald Trump would never survive two tough-hitting interviews like this (and Trump is still asking “60 Minutes” for an apology while threatening to sue them) there are a few other reasons I thought the “Special Report” was more informative.
From a personal perspective, a 73-year-old black man asking a black woman, “You have called [Trump] a racist and divisive. Yet Donald Trump has the support of millions and millions of Americans. How do you explain that?” makes me want to fling my television through the window.
Jim Crow lasted in the United States for 100 years and didn’t end until 1968. Whitaker was born in 1951. If an ‘80s baby is old enough to comprehend that racism didn’t dwindle away like fairy dust after ‘68, a brotha two times my age knows it too. Him having a master’s degree in African-American studies from Boston University further proves my point.
The “millions and millions” of people (74 million voted for Trump in 2020 versus 81 million people for Biden) who voted for Trump didn’t do it because they love his “concepts” of a political plan. They voted for him because they love his racist style and cannot wait for Project 2025 to go into effect. I’m not debating this. Debate with the wall if you want to.
And while I have no patience for Whitaker asking this question while fully knowing the answer — and probably living through many examples of it — I expect Baier to ask these kind of oblivious questions. Privilege may make him actually not know the answer.
Then again, Trump describing Baier as “hostile” for “no smiling, no let’s have fun, let’s Make America Great Again” immediately makes me think Baier may actually be the one person at FOX News who would ask reasonable questions to the 2024 Democratic presidential candidate. If Trump refers to a journalist as “nasty,” there’s a 99% chance I can take this person seriously in a newsroom.
.jpg){kind=link}
The result of the “Special Report” interview on FOX
Although those two talked over each other like me and my brother complaining about whose turn it was to do the dishes, when they weren’t having what sounded like a bratty spat of “let me get the last word,” there were actually legitimate questions about the following topics:
Statistics on released illegal immigrants into the United States since 2020
Biden-Harris campaign to immediately enact border control laws in 2021 (long before the executive order in June 2024)
The murders of Rachel Morin, Laken Riley and Jocelyn Nungaray by undocumented immigrants from El Salvador and Venezuela
Gender transition surgery for prison inmates and how it connects to health insurance coverage
Economic experts’ weigh in on Harris’ policies versus Trump’s policies
The FOX News faulty moments
Were there stupid moments during the FOX News interview? Of course. It’s FOX. They’d have it no other way. Baier asking Harris, “What are you turning the pages from?” as though all of the rallies, sit-ins, equality debates, sexism debates, outrage over the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision, and even the “very fine people on both sides” frustration are not a figment of Harris’ imagination. January 6, 2021 wasn’t either.
ADVERTISEMENT ~ Amazon
As an Amazon Affiliate, I earn a percentage for each purchase with my referral links.
Harris was well within her right to point out that the clip Baier played about an “enemy of the state” was not the actual video that should’ve been shown. (Baier admitted the displayed Al Capone video clip was a mistake long after the interview was over and Harris had left the building.)
And Baier asking Harris to weigh in on President Joe Biden’s mental health was lazy, overdone and a cheap shot. It was especially goofy, considering Trump spent 30 unproductive minutes onstage in Oaks, Pennsylvania, ignoring questions, randomly choosing from a playlist, and contorting his arms and hands in a way that news outlets keep calling “dancing.”
There was a point toward the end of the interview when I was begging Harris to ask Baier, “Are you aware that I’m running a presidential campaign against a man who thinks he’s Deadmau5?”
ADVERTISEMENT ~ Amazon
As an Amazon affiliate, I do earn a percentage from each sale while using my referral links.
But she is better than me, so she was patient enough to swerve the verbal car back into a straight lane. I rarely if ever watch “Saturday Night Live.” But after watching Harris’ FOX interview, I was curious why the comment section kept saying “SNL got it right.” And so I watched “Saturday Night Live” skits to get their take on the FOX News debate. Nailed it!
This is the first time in a long time that I’ve laughed at an “SNL” skit. This one was funny not only because it was so spot on but because it cracked a few jokes in spots that I didn’t find funny at all while watching Harris’ debate with Baier.
My vote is already in. Anyone who reads “One Black Woman’s Vote” already knows who I voted for. At this point, if you’re undecided, you intended to vote for Trump because you already are the people Baier and Whitaker act like they don’t know about. There’s nothing anyone can do to change your mind. To the rest of you participating in Early Voting or waiting until Election Day, be safe and don’t let anyone bully you out of the line.
May the only sane and qualified candidate win on November 5, 2024.
Did you enjoy this post? You’re also welcome to check out my Substack columns “Black Girl In a Doggone World,” “BlackTechLogy,” “Homegrown Tales,” “I Do See Color,” “One Black Woman’s Vote” and “Window Shopping” too. Subscribe to this newsletter for the weekly posts every Wednesday.
If you’re not ready to subscribe but want to support my writing, you’re welcome to tip me for this post! I’ll buy a dark hot chocolate on you. Thanks for reading!