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Harris seeks to lure winnable Republicans in Fox interview

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Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris was embroiled in heated exchanges in her first interview with US broadcaster Fox News. Harris said, if elected, her presidency would not be “a continuation of Joe Biden’s.”

US Vice President Kamala Harris faced a combative interview on Fox News on Wednesday, verbally sparring with anchor Bret Baier on immigration and her credibility as a change candidate.

 

The interview was her first foray onto the network — popular with conservative viewers — as she seeks to bolster her outreach to Republican-leaning voters less than three weeks before the November 5 election.

What happened in the interview?

Harris’ nearly 30-minute sit-down with Baier was a lively one, with the two repeatedly talking over on another.

At one point, Baier kept talking when Harris tried to answer to his challenges on immigration, Harris said: “May I please finish? … You have to let me finish, please.”

In another heated moment when pushing back against Baier’s line of questioning, the Democratic White House candidate said: “I would like if we could have a conversation that is grounded in a full assessment of the facts.”

While Harris tried multiple times to switch the conversation to attacking former US President Donald Trump, She also spoke about what a future presidency of her own might look like.

Just a week after saying she couldn’t name any move made by US President Joe Biden that she would have done differently, Harris asserted, “My presidency will not be a continuation of Joe Biden’s presidency.”

“Like every new president that comes into office, I will bring my life experiences, and my professional experiences and fresh and new ideas.”

What did Harris say about her opponent?

Asked to clarify her assertion that she wants to “turn the page,” Harris said her campaign was about “turning the page from the last decade in which we have been burdened with the kind of rhetoric coming from Donald Trump.”

“People are exhausted with someone who professes to be a leader and who spends full time demeaning and engaging in personal grievances,” she said, adding: “He’s not stable.”

On immigration — a policy area on which Harris is seen as vulnerable, she expressed regret over the deaths of women killed by people detained and then released after crossing into the US illegally during the Biden administration.

However, she criticized Trump for his role in holding up a bipartisan immigration bill earlier this year that would have increased border funding.

She said Trump had swayed lawmakers to reject the law because “he preferred to run on a problem instead of fixing a problem.”

What DW’s United States correspondent thought

DW Washington correspondent Janelle Dumalaon said nearly the first third of the interview was taken up by a “crosstalk-heavy back-and-forth on immigration,” with Fox host Brett Baier attempting to unsettle Kamala Harris on what is seen as her weakest issue.

“Harris repeatedly tried, with limited success, to point out that it was former President Donald Trump who got in the way of a bipartisan border bill that would have helped address high levels of irregular immigration.

“At times the interview played like an assertiveness contest, with Baier repeatedly talking over the vice-president while she fought to make herself heard.

Dumalaon said the purpose for Harris was “to present the mainstays of her stump speech to those who might not have heard them yet.”

She said Harris appeared to have calculated that any share viewers still undecided, “however few,” were worth appealing to, and that she might even gain “bonus points if she can show them toughness in an adversarial situation.”

 

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Tinubu reforms are in the right direction but social security nets to helo people cushion the effect of his reforms are needed- Okonjo-Iweala

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President Bola Tinubu had a closed door meeting the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, at the Aso Villa in Abuja today August 14.

Tinubu and Okonjo-Iweala were in a closed-door meeting at the nation’s political capital where they discussed trade matters as they relate to national, continental and global relevance.

After the meeting, the former Minister of Finance spoke to State House correspondents. She stated that the President’s economic policies are working and that it has been able to stabilize the economy.

In her words

‘’We (The WTO) think the President and his team have worked hard to stabilize the economy and you cannot improve on an economy unless it is stable so he has to be given the credit for stability of the economy. The reforms have been in the right direction, What is needed next is growth. We now need to grow the economy and we need to put in social safety net so that people who are feeling the pinch of the reforms can also have some support to be able to weather the hardship’’

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Kebbi ADC suspends state chairman, two others

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The African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Kebbi State has suspended its chairman, Engineer Sufiyanu Bala, along with his deputy, Junaidu Muhammed Mudi, and the state secretary, Hauwa Muhammed.

Speaking to journalists in Birnin Kebbi, the party’s publicity secretary, Jamilu Muhammed, accused the Sufiyanu-led leadership of making decisions without consulting other executives.

“We address you today to announce the immediate suspension of Sufiyanu Bala, his deputy, and secretary Hauwa from the party with immediate effect,” he said.

Muhammed alleged that the suspended leaders allowed Abuja nomadic politicians to dominate the party, a move strongly opposed by the founding members.

“We will not, after tailoring the party to its present status, allow Abuja politicians to dominate it,” he added.

According to him, the decision came after an extraordinary meeting of loyal ADC members and stakeholders who have been with the party long before the coming of Abuja impostors.

The party has appointed Abdulrazaq Abubakar Isah Iko as interim chairman and Adamu Aliyu as acting secretary until a new congress is held.

The Kebbi ADC warned the suspended members to stop identifying themselves as party officials or carrying out activities in the party’s name.

It also condemned political gatherings organised by the suspended officials, saying such actions violate the Electoral Act.

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Ekwunife blasts Soludo, says government House not his birthright

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Deputy Governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the November 8 governorship election in Anambra State, Senator Uche Ekwunife has warned Governor Soludo to get ready to hand over power, insisting that the government house is not his birthright.

Senator Ekwunife stated this while addressing party faithful in her country home in Nri, Anaocha Council area of the state where she described the administration of the governor as an abysmal failure in all round development and security of lives and property.

“Soludo and I are not at war, what is happening is that what he is currently holding is what we want. The constitution of Nigeria made it four year term for every elected governor. And if you do well, you will be re-elected but in the case of Soludo, it is obvious he has lost touch with governance and that is why APC has presented veritable platform for the people of the state to reclaim their state from APGA misrule.

“The governor, rather than concentrate on positive governance, has been going about crying like a baby, calling my name up and down and we are not losing sleep over his rantings. He has not done well to deserve a second term and that is why the state seems to be on autopilot for four years.

“I make bold to say that Soludo was smart to have hurriedly parked into the uncompleted Anambra State government House, which goes to tell his state of panicky mood of losing this election which is going to happen. But he has forgotten that government is a continuum and when one stops, another person takes over and that is why we presented a veritable alternative to Ndi Anambra.”

Also speaking during the programme, the former Minister of State, Science and Technology, Henry Ikoh described the governorship election in the state as very vital in order to connect the state to the mainstream politics of Nigeria and called for total and massive votes for the party and her candidates, Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu and Senator Uche Ekwunife.

Ikoh said the time for the party to clinch Anambra State has come with the massive mobilization of stakeholders across the state and county in general to support the party and ensure smooth victory in the November 8 governorship election.

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