Kamala Harris' Fox News interview convinces swing voters: “In her element”

Kamala Harris received a higher rating among swing voters during her Fox News interview on Wednesday than her overall popularity with that group, according to a study.

Online monitoring and analytics firm Impact Social reported that 20 percent of swing voters who watched the interview had a positive impression of Harris. In comparison, 30 percent had a negative opinion, the remaining 50 percent were neutral.

Impact Social found that the net score of -10 is higher than Harris' overall favorability score with swing voters of -16. Therefore, they claimed that the event “reflects an upswing” that is “likely to have a positive impact on the perceptions of swing voters.”

Fox News host Bret Baier interviewed Harris on Wednesday in a sometimes heated exchange that covered her views on immigration, transgender health and whether Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is a threat to American democracy.

The vice president's decision to appear on a conservative-leaning network was widely seen as an attempt to broaden her appeal, even though polls suggested the race was too close to be decided.

The Impact Social analysis is based on an algorithm that reads a “statistically representative sample” of social media posts made during the debate by people identified as swing voters. In 2016, Impact Social created a database of 40,000 key swing voters who met a number of key characteristics.

Positive comments on Harris' performance recorded by Impact Social included “Kamala Harris is very, very good at this” and “Why is everyone surprised that @VP @KamalaHarris kicked Bret Baier's ass?” She is an experienced prosecutor. She is in her element when debating” or presenting her argument.

On the other hand, one commenter said Harris was “borderline,” while another said, “Kamala Harris absolutely bombed this interview. Baier pushed and challenged, and all she did was whine, deflect, lie and the old “I” “I speak.”

Newsweek emailed the Trump and Harris campaigns seeking comment.

According to Impact Social, while a net 10 percent of swing voters had a negative opinion of Harris' performance, this was actually a good result for the Democratic candidate, as it was a better result than her overall approval rating among that group.

Company boss Phil Snape: “At first glance, a net sentiment score of -10 might seem like a failure. However, our weekly 40K swing voter tracker shows Harris is currently at -16 (Trump -17). Her interview therefore reflects an upward trend in her performance, which is likely to have a positive impact on swing voters' perceptions.

Snape added: “Generally swing voters agree that this was a combative, testy and unpleasant interview. Whether they blame Fox’s Baier or Harris depends largely on voter intent.”

During Wednesday's interview, Harris clashed with Baier over the Biden administration's policies on undocumented immigration. A clip of her asking, “May I please finish” after being interrupted by the Fox News host went viral on social media.

During a later appearance on Fox News, Baier suggested that Harris went into the interview looking for “a viral moment,” adding, “I think maybe she got that.”

Harris also used the interview to suggest that Trump posed a threat to the rule of law in America, accusing the Republican nominee of being unable to “handle criticism.”

Turning to Baier, she added: “You and I both know that he has talked about using the American military against the American people.”

For a copy of Impact Social's full report, click here.