Fox's Bret Baier admits 'mistake' in airing Trump clip in Harris interview

Fox News host Bret Baier said he “made a mistake” during his interview with Kamala Harris by not airing video of a comment from Donald Trump, which Harris pointed out to him in real time.

Baier made the admission Thursday about 24 hours after his interview with the Democratic presidential candidate aired. Nearly 8 million people watched the session, Harris' first meeting with a Fox News Channel journalist during the campaign.

However, it was not immediately clear what Baier meant when he said he made a mistake.

Their exchange about the Trump video, one of the most controversial of the interview, came after Harris criticized her Republican opponent for potentially having to call in the National Guard or the military to deal with what he defined as “the enemy within.” become “left-wing radical lunatics.”

Baier then said his colleague Harris Faulkner had asked Trump about his “enemy within us” comment earlier in the day, “and that's how he responded.” In the clip, Trump was seen saying he wouldn't threaten anyone, and he criticized “false investigations” against him, making a joke that made his audience laugh.

“Bret, I'm sorry, and with all due respect, that clip was not what he said about the enemy within…that's not what you just showed,” Harris said.

A day later, Baier said that when he asked his staff for a video to play during the interview, he expected two clips – one showing Trump making the “enemy within” comment to Fox's Maria Bartiromo, and one from Faulkner Town Hall, which played during the Harris interview.

“Listen to what I wanted to say,” Baier said Thursday. He then aired both clips one after the other.

But during the interview, Baier gave no indication that he had any intention of voicing the “enemy within,” even after Harris pointed it out to him. For this reason, his explanation of a mistake was met with some skepticism online.

“Newsflash: When the wrong clips run (which happens), anchors can easily say, 'Sorry, that was the wrong clip,'” former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson wrote on “X.” “He or his producers would have known immediately that it was the wrong thing.”

There was no immediate comment Friday from a Fox representative clarifying what Baier meant.

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David Bauder writes about media for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder.