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A tense conversation on “Fox & Friends” had a surrogate for Vice President Kamala Harris bristling after getting called out for “fallacies.”

“Sorry, is this an interview or a debate?”

(Video: Fox News)

As some polling places were just opening around the country, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg joined Fox News host Brian Kilmeade where calm demeanors masked the boiling back-and-forth.

The exchange grew particularly heated after the official was reminded about the blanket inflation that had, among other drastic increases, raised the average price of a car from $40,000 to $47,000 under the Biden-Harris administration in the battleground state of Michigan.

“Look, Donald Trump left office with the worst jobs record since Herbert Hoover,” Buttigieg tried before confronting the realities that COVID was to blame. “This administration has created the most jobs of anybody. Well, let’s remember though, before the pandemic, right? It was before the pandemic that there was a manufacturing recession under Trump. Right now, more factories are being built in America than at any time since.”

Amid crosstalk, Kilmeade challenged, “The manufacturing recession is in your head. It never happened,” as his guest sought the claim to be looked up on PolitiFact and displayed for viewers.

Attempting to return to his point about the impact the Democratic Party’s green agenda was having on the automotive industry, the host steered back, “Mr. Mayor, Michigan matters a lot. That’s why you’re there, right?”

“How much did the EV mandate hurt the Kamala Harris quest to be the next president?” he asked.

“Well, first of all, the statement that there is an EV mandate is a lie. You can buy a gas car right now if you want one. You can buy an EV,” Buttigieg deflected as the host clarified that blue states like California and New York had already set into motion the framework to restrict the market for consumers who wanted to stick with their gas-powered vehicles.

Like trying to nail gelatin to a wall, Kilmeade sought to have his guest answer beyond talking points and sought Buttigieg’s preference on the future of the internal combustion engine.

“If I had my druthers, every car would be made in America,” he replied, skating around the question. “Now, we know that EV technology is coming, whether people are ready for it or not, it is coming, it’s happening around the world. And Donald Trump allowed China to take the lead on this. I want those EVs made in America. When I think about Howard County, Indiana-”

Suggesting that the former president had “allowed China to take the lead” was received as beyond absurd by the Fox News host who pointed out, “They have the rare earth that you guys won’t let them mine! You will not let them mine in Minnesota where the governor wants to be vice president-”

“Sorry, is this an interview or debate? Can I at least finish?” griped the secretary as Kilmeade countered, “I just can’t let you throw out fallacies. It’s important.”

“Excuse me? Name one statement that I just made that you would say is factually inaccurate,” challenged Buttigieg as the host fired back, “The statement you just made that Donald Trump let China take the lead.”

“I would say that, number one, he didn’t want a mandate to tilt the playing field. If somebody wants an EV they should be able to get it, not get a rebate, if they buy it,” he added before Buttigieg spent the final moments of the interview aligning former President Donald Trump with antisemites.

Kilmeade was widely lauded for pushing back on the narratives that his guest was selling on Election Day.

Kevin Haggerty
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