She did not look anything like she did on the latest Vogue cover, but Kamala Harris’s immaculate presence was not diminished

Nobody thought Fox News would make it easy for her, and they did not. ‘Special Report’ host Bret Baier was not planning to play nice, and he did not. Yesterday, the interview that Kamala Harris dared to accept got off to a testy start. This was not Donald Trump sitting opposite the seasoned political anchor of the most conservative network in the whole of the US. Mr Baier did not have to pander to the former president’s supporters. He only had to assume the role of a MAGA chauvinist or at least a Trump lackey, with a seemingly disarming temperament of JD Vance. No one was fooled by his calmness and the ingratiating, I’ll-try-to-be-nice smile.

He turned an interview into a debate, as if to win one for Donald Trump. From the start, he was not going to let Ms Harris come on strong, asking an unnecessarily long question on immigration and then framing it as Ms Harris releasing the illegals into the US, as if cattle out to graze or to attack. Before that question was answered, he hammered on with another prolix question. He was here to spar and he kept it that way, reminding viewers that Fox News has been hostile to the vice-president and they will continue to do so. Imagine being told, right from the start: “You have to let me finish, please… I’m in the middle of responding to the point you are raising.” And that was barely two-and-a-half minutes into the 30-miniute interview.

Bret Baier turned an interview into a debate, as if to win one for Donald Trump

For the occasion, Mr Harris did not really dress to face a largely conservative Fox News audience. She appeared in what could be considered her most fashion-y looks. She wore a suit, no doubt, but it wasn’t what a typical politico would wear, nothing in the vein of Hilary Clinton’s or Nancy Pelosi’s picks. The jacket sported, intrepidly, wide peak lapels, the lower half with corners that aimed pointedly at the edge of her shoulders. And there was the fabric. It was hard to tell, watching that broadcast on YouTube, but it appeared to be a dark denim. This is in contrast to Ms Harris’s usually business-y suits. Beneath that, she ditched the pussy bows and draped necklines for something akin to a T-shirt. Throughout the interview (admittedly a poor word choice now), she kept her poise.

Perhaps this was not a look that suggested fierceness. Or don’t interrupt me when I am answering your question. There was too much fashion cred in it. Not that Mr Baier, in a bland navy suit and matching tie that retired bankers or Trump die-hards appreciate, would be able to identify or appreciate. Ms Harris, with tasteful makeup, turned out in her campaign best, quite unlike the too-polished appearance on the Vogue cover. On screen, the lines on her expressive forehead and those that spread out from the corners of her smiling eyes were hers, and were not obliterated by some clever clicks on an image-enhancing app. She was relatable, if not in political standing, at least personally.

What cannot also be overlooked is that Kamala Harris is not a combative kind of interviewee, even a debater, that many hope she is, or can be. Additionally, in most of her speeches and in her interviews, she is thin on policy, but dense on repeating herself, to the point that so many things she has said and still says are beginning to sound as clichéd as Mr Trump’s attacks on her are tired and meaningless, and both should be put aside. There is nothing in this Fox News interview that she said that is new or, at least, refreshed. Or something that will bring on the cheers. But she did finally clearly set herself apart from the out-going president, saying: “My presidency will not be a continuation of Joe Biden’s presidency, and like every new president that comes into office, I will bring my life experiences, my professional experiences, and fresh and new ideas. I represent a new generation of leadership.”

It is irritating to watch an interviewer who would not let his interviewee speak or complete what she was saying. When he interrupted, he did so like a cycling Grab delivery guy, cutting into your path: abruptly and unapologetically. Ms Harris might as well go on Piers Morgan’s show. We did not expect her to be coddled, but she should not have to be subjected to such abrasive treatment. She even reminded Mr Baier: “You’re a serious journalist” and “I would like that we would have a conversation that is grounded in the full assessment of the facts.” Perhaps, it was not necessary for the vice president to have total say or to answer those questions with the depth that would qualify her for the Nobel Peace Prize. That she was there, in the belly of the beast, was enough to show that she was not afraid of being treated the way Mr Baier has acted towards her, however unfairly. Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt, later said to the media, ““Kamala was angry, defensive…” With Fox News, just not enough.