Vice President Kamala Harris is known for always wearing a smile on her face and laughing during interactions, to the point where it has become a part of her presidential campaign. However, there have been moments in which the VP has had to shift to a more serious tone and correct false claims to set the record straight. The presidential candidate has appeared on Fox News, CBS, “The Breakfast Club,” and other notable platforms to discuss her run for chief of state, her record as both a San Francisco district attorney and the attorney general of California, and to address baseless claims that undermine her credentials.
Below, take a look at some of the most popular moments where Harris was not wearing a smile on her face and addressed misinformation head-on.
1. Harris engages in a fiery exchange with Fox News host Bret Baier over Trump’s threats to target the “enemy from within”
Baier interviewed Vice President Harris for nearly 30 minutes on Fox News where the two clashed over former President Donald Trump’s claims that if reelected, he would go after his enemies.
During the interview, Baier continuously spoke over the presidential candidate as she tried to answer his questions. A visibly upset Harris interrupted him repeatedly, saying, “I’m not finished” and “May I finish responding please?”
Baier eventually respected the vice president’s request, and she called Trump a threat to democracy due to claims he would target the “enemy from within.”
“[He’s] talking about the American people, suggesting he would turn the American military on the American people,” insisted Harris. “Going after people who have engaged in peaceful protest, talking about locking people up because they disagree with him.”
Baier then aired a video of Trump defending his statements, at which point Harris criticized the Fox News host for not broadcasting the original clips of the former president discussing how he would target his enemies.
2. Harris shoots down accusations that she does not support the Black community
“The Breakfast Club” host Charlamagne Tha God conducted an interview with Vice President Kamala Harris and confronted her about a clip where she allegedly told theGrio she “won’t do anything specifically for Black people.”
“That’s just not true,” said Harris.
“One of the biggest challenges that I face is mis- and disinformation, and it’s purposeful because it is meant to convince people that they somehow should not believe that the work that I’ve done has occurred and has meaning,” the decorated politician contended. “[Republicans] are trying to scare people away because otherwise they have nothing to run on.”
The vice president then mentioned her record of accomplishments with the Black community, including work she has done for historically Black colleges and universities, Black maternal mortality, Black unemployment, entrepreneurship and helping Black Americans build generational wealth.
“Many would say I’m one of the highest-level leaders in our country to bring the issue of Black maternal mortality to the stage of the White House,” declared Harris. “Ask Donald Trump what his plan is for Black America… Look at Project 2025.”
3. Harris clashes with Donald Trump over the issue of abortion
Vice President Harris and Trump engaged in a tense exchange over reproductive rights during their sole presidential debate. The VP stated, “Understand if Trump were to be reelected, he will sign a national abortion ban,” to which he shot back, “That’s a lie… I’m not in favor of an abortion ban, but it doesn’t matter because this issue has now been taken over by the states.”
ABC’s Linsey Davis then asked Trump, “Would you veto a national abortion ban if it came to your desk?”
The former president dismissed the question and later asked Harris if she would “allow abortion in the eighth month, ninth month, seventh month?” He then looked at the moderators and inquired, “Why don’t you ask her that question?”
Harris fired back and said, “Why don’t you answer the question? Would you veto… Answer the question... Would you veto?”
4. Harris slams Trump and Ohio Senator JD Vance for baseless claims against Haitian migrants
The National Association of Black Journalists moderated a nearly 45-minute discussion with Harris and asked her about Trump and Vance’s claims that Haitian migrants were eating pets in Springfield, Ohio.
Harris condemned their remarks and stated that their attacks on Haitian migrants are a “crying shame” and placed an entire community in “fear.”
“When you are bestowed with a microphone that is that big, there is a profound responsibility that comes with that… [which is] this concept of public trust [and] to understand what the public trust means. It means that you have been invested with trust to be responsible in the way you use your words, much less how you conduct yourself,” she explained.
“Especially when you have been, and then seek to be again, president of the United States of America. And so, I go back to it’s a crying shame,” she asserted.
5. Harris and NBC’s Hallie Jackson engage in a tense exchange over President Joe Biden’s debate performance
Hallie Jackson and VP Harris discussed Biden’s performance during the June 27 presidential debate against Trump. “You never saw anything like what happened at the debate night [when you were] behind closed doors with him?” asked Jackson.
The vice president responded, “It was a bad debate. People have bad debates.”
The network anchor then insisted that Biden’s performance was the reason that Harris became the Democratic Party’s 2024 presidential nominee. The California native instructed Jackson that she would have to ask the commander in chief if that was his only reason for dropping out of the race.
The vice president then made it clear that she is “running for president of the United States. Joe Biden is not - and my presidency will be about bringing a new generation of leadership to America.”