Vice President Kamala Harris’ interview with Fox News received 7.1 million people, more than doubling the number who watched former President Donald Trump’s town hall earlier in the day, the network said Thursday afternoon.
Harris sat down with the network’s chief political anchor, Bret Baier, on Wednesday, just hours after Trump participated in a town hall of women voters. The appearances came less than three weeks before Election Day as polls still point to a close race in battleground states.
About 2.9 million people tuned in to Trump’s town hall with anchor Harris Faulkner, the network said.
The announcement quickly drew comparisons between the two appearances on social media, though daytime programing typically draws fewer viewers than evening programing. Trump also appears on Fox News more frequently than Harris, while Harris’ interview drew particular interest because it is her first on the network.
Still, Harris’ interview drew more viewers than the former president’s other recent Fox News appearances. His September 18 interview with Greg Gutfeld averaged 4.9 million viewers, according to the network.
Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said in a statement to Newsweek: “We’re glad viewers were able to see Kamala Harris’ interview with Bret Baier was a TRAIN WRECK. Kamala was angry, defensive, and once again abdicated any responsibility for the problems Americans are facing. She couldn’t give a straight answer to a single question because she has no answers.
“Kamala’s entire campaign is based on lies about President Trump. Kamala can’t handle the pressure of an interview with Fox News—she certainly can’t handle the pressure of being President of the United States.”
Baier usually attracts an audience of about 2.3 million viewers, per Fox’s figures from October 14, which it said was more than any competing show in that time slot. Faulkner typically attracts an audience of 1.7 million, according to Fox.
Harris’ interview made headlines for contentious moments on issues like immigration and transgender rights. At one point, Harris pushed back on Baier for showing a clip of Trump defending himself against criticism over his “enemy within” remarks, rather than the comments themselves.
“Bret, I’m sorry, that is not what he has been saying about the ‘enemy within’ that he has repeated when speaking about the American people,” Harris said. “That’s not what you just showed.”
Trump repeated claims about his perceived “enemy within” comment—referring to political rivals during the town hall—while also discussing issues like immigration, IVF and abortion.
“It’s back in the states, where they can have the vote of the people. It’s exactly where they want to be,” Trump said on the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
“Remember this, this issue has torn this country apart for 52 years. So we got it back in the states, we have a vote of the people, and it’s working its way through the system, and ultimately it’s going to do the right thing.”
Trump also called himself the “father of IVF,” which Harris reposted on X, formerly Twitter, and asked what he was talking about.
“His abortion bans have already jeopardized access to it in states across the country – and his own platform could end IVF altogether,” she posted ahead of her Fox appearance.
Following weeks of criticism from Republicans for not making any media appearances, Harris and her running partner, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, have stepped up their campaign with podcast tapings, a one-on-one interview with Oprah, and late-night program appearances.
Trump, meantime, has canceled interviews with CNBC and NBC News.
