Fact Check: Kamala Harris Interview with Fox News' Bret Baier | 2024 US election news

In an often contentious, sometimes heated exchange on Fox News, Vice President Kamala Harris answered questions from host Bret Baier about immigration, the economy and her policy differences with her Republican challenger, former President Donald Trump, and her boss, President Joe Biden.

Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, conducted the interview, her first ever on Fox, on Oct. 16 as part of her election interview blitz.

Baier asked Harris how many migrants have been released into the country under the Biden-Harris administration, how she would reduce the number and why some of her positions have changed since her 2019 presidential campaign. He asked Harris whether immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally should be eligible for a driver's license, free college tuition or health care, and said her vice president, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, had passed legislation making that possible.

Harris, meanwhile, called Trump unfit for office and said many of his former advisers had said the same thing. She also said that his plans would weaken the economy, but her plans would strengthen it.

Harris also made it clear that her path would be different from Biden's. “My presidency will not be a continuation of Joe Biden’s presidency,” she said. “And like every new president who takes office, I will bring my life experiences, my professional experiences and fresh and new ideas.”

We fact-checked several of Harris and Baier's claims.

Tim Walz signed legislation giving immigrants access to driver's licenses, college scholarships and health care

Baier said Harris' running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, signed federal legislation “allowing immigrants in the country illegally to apply for driver's licenses, qualify for free college tuition and enroll in free health care.” let”.

Mostly true. Walz signed a bill in 2023 allowing people in Minnesota to apply for a driver's license or ID card regardless of immigration status. To obtain a license, individuals must meet certain requirements. Walz said the bill would make roads safer by ensuring drivers in the state are licensed and have insurance.

Walz signed another bill that established a scholarship program to cover tuition at public colleges and universities in Minnesota for students whose household income is less than $80,000 per year. Students who are in the United States illegally may apply if they have attended a school in Minnesota for at least three years and graduated or received a GED certificate in Minnesota.

Walz also signed a law allowing immigrants in the country illegally to enroll in MinnesotaCare, the state's publicly subsidized health insurance program for low-income residents. But contrary to what Baier said, MinnesotaCare isn't completely free. People enrolled in MinnesotaCare pay premiums based on household size and income. There are also cost-sharing obligations such as co-payments and deductibles.

Trump described the brain injuries of American soldiers as a headache

Harris told Baier that Trump “dismissed the attack on an American military base in which American soldiers suffered traumatic brain injuries” “as a headache.”

TRUE.

Harris was referring to an Iranian attack on U.S. soldiers in Iraq on January 8, 2020. According to the Pentagon, more than 100 soldiers have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries.

Trump has repeatedly called the injuries a “headache.”

In 2020, Trump said he “heard they had a headache” and added that it was “not very serious.” Trump repeated that claim at an Oct. 1 press conference in Wisconsin.

After Iran attacked Israel on October 1, Trump responded to a question about whether he should have taken stronger action against Iran after the 2020 attack that injured US troops. He said, “What does hurt mean? You mean because they had a headache because the bombs never hit the fort?”

Trump’s “enemy from within” warning

Harris said Trump was “the one talking about an enemy within, an enemy within, talking about the American people and suggesting that he would turn the American military against the American people.”

TRUE.

In an Oct. 13 interview with Fox News, Trump said he believed “the enemy within” would cause chaos on Election Day, suggesting it was a problem being addressed by the National Guard or the military may have to deal with.

Trump added to the comments, widely believed to be directed at Democrats and others who disagree with him, in a speech to a crowd in Pennsylvania a day later. “They are so bad and frankly they are evil,” Trump said. “They are evil. They weaponized what they did, they weaponized our elections.”

Nobel laureates described Harris' economic agenda as “superior” to Trump's

Harris said 16 Nobel laureates had suggested that their economic plan would “strengthen our (Trump's) economy, weaken it, fuel inflation and precipitate a recession by the middle of next year.”

Mostly true.

Harris accurately describes what the Nobel Prize winners said about inflation during a Trump presidency: “There is a rightful concern that Donald Trump will re-ignite that inflation.”

But while the group describes Harris' agenda as “substantially superior” to Trump's, its letter does not specifically predict a recession by mid-2025.

Rather, the group wrote, “We believe that a second Trump term would have a negative impact on the U.S. economic position in the world and a destabilizing effect on the U.S. domestic economy.”

The 16 economists are George Akerlof, Angus Deaton, Claudia Goldin, Oliver Hart, Eric S. Maskin, Daniel L. McFadden, Paul R. Milgrom, Roger B. Myerson, Edmund S. Phelps, Paul M. Romer and Alvin E. Roth , William F. Sharp, Robert J. Shiller, Christopher A. Sims, Joseph Stiglitz, and Robert B. Wilson.