In her first TV interview with the conservative U.S. broadcaster Fox News, U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris engaged in a heated exchange with the presenter in an interview that was more confrontational than previous ones.
The roughly 30-minute conversation felt like a duel, with Fox presenter Bret Baier repeatedly interrupting Harris on the first topic: migration.
Harris found herself on the defensive at the start but regained her footing as the discussion progressed.
Harris' rival Republican nominee Donald Trump, a former president, regularly criticizes Harris on border issues.
"May I finish responding?" Harris repeatedly asked as Baier interrupted her during the interview. She said it was right that the American public wanted a discussion on migration before the election. However, what people did not want was for politicians to use the border issue for political purposes.
Baier asked Harris if she owed an apology to the relatives of women murdered by migrants. While she called those cases "tragic" she noted that the U.S. migration system has been broken for a long time and Congress is responsible for fixing it.
The House and Senate had produced a bipartisan immigration bill earlier this year but Republicans vetoed it after Trump reportedly did not want to give Biden a victory on the issue. Harris accused Republicans and Trump of blocking a solution.
Baier then shifted the conversation to the topic of gender reassignment surgeries and transgender rights, a subject often politicized by conservatives. He asked Harris if taxpayer money should be used for this.
Harris said Trump "spent $20 million on those ads trying to create a sense of fear in the voters, because he actually has no plan in this election that is about focusing on the needs of the American people."
The two sparred over the cognitive abilities of Biden, the former Democratic candidate, and Trump. Biden dropped out after a disastrous debate with Trump in which the president often lost his train of thought and often misspoke.
But Trump had a recent rambling campaign event in which he stood before a crowd swaying to music for about 20 minutes. Harris noted that those who knew Trump best - many former staff members - are not voting for him and consider Trump unfit for the presidency.
Harris deliberately distanced herself from Biden saying "let me be very clear, my presidency will not be a continuation of Joe Biden's presidency." She noted she is of a different generation and background and would bring her experience and new ideas to the White House.
Trump's campaign team called the interview a fiasco and labelled Harris as "angry and defensive." Trump had already attacked Baier, the moderator, before the interview, saying he was soft and criticizing what once appeared to be his favourite channel, Fox, as now weak towards the Democrats.
