Monday evening saw dueling television interviews between the two major-party candidates for president.
Originally, both interviews were scheduled to take place on the same network, CBS, on its flagship news program “60 Minutes.” But Republican candidate Donald Trump balked at the idea that “60 Minutes” would correct his false claims on the program so he declined to participate.
So CBS’s Bill Whitaker interviewed Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris … and Trump decamped for the less-challenging environs of Fox News. There, Trump engaged in a conversation with Laura Ingraham, someone who’d spoken at the 2016 Republican convention during which he first received his party’s presidential nomination.
On paper, this setup might lead you to assume that Harris fielded more challenging questions than did Trump. But we will let you judge for yourself. Below are 13 questions posed to the candidates during the two discussions. See if you can identify which candidate was the recipient of each question, testing your assumptions about how friendly or hostile each encounter actually was. (As a public service, we’ve also included the candidates’ responses.)
The questions
- Would you meet with President Vladimir Putin to negotiate a solution to the war in Ukraine?
- Do you think [the other party] made a political mistake in this?
- I have known you for 20-plus years, a long time. And I looked at you and there was an emotional moment where, like, I think people around me were starting to tear up. Were you close to tearing up at that moment?
- So for all the women out there … what do you say to them about the safety of our homeland?
- How are you going to pay for that?
- How is [your child] doing in college?
- So, what kind of gun do you own and when and why did you get it?
- How will you and [your party] ensure that all voters in hurricane-hit areas have their votes counted? Because this could be a close election.
- Let me tell you what your critics and the columnists say.
- Are you wearing those shoes today, same shoes?
- How will you restore faith in our justice system?
- How are you going to get this through Congress?
- Do we have a real close ally in Prime Minister Netanyahu?
The answers
- Harris. The vice president was asked how she would approach the conflict in Ukraine. (Trump has already said he’d talk to Putin.) (Her response: “Not bilaterally without Ukraine, no. Ukraine must have a say in the future of Ukraine.”)
- Trump. Trump was offered a chance to evaluate the effects of Biden stepping aside. (His response: “Well, I’ll tell you on November 6th, I can’t tell you.”)
- Trump. Ingraham wanted to know how Trump felt when Lee Greenwood sang at the Republican convention. (His response: “Well, if I admitted that, I think I’d lose a lot of votes.”)
- Trump. This was how Ingraham framed a question about Trump’s support among women. (The ellipsis excludes a riff about Trump’s disparagements of other people, which would have given the answer away.) (His response: “I say to the women — and I think I do very well with the women, actually. I think it’s a lot of fake polling.”)
- Harris. Harris was asked about her proposals to expand the child tax credit and provide tax breaks to small businesses. (Her response: “One of the things I’m going to make sure that the richest among us, who can afford it, pay their fair share in taxes. It is not right that teachers and nurses and firefighters are paying a higher tax rate than billionaires and the biggest corporations.”)
- Trump. Trump was asked about his son Barron. (His response: “He’s doing great. He’s always a great student. Barron’s a very good student. He’s a tall student also, by the way.”)
- Harris. Whitaker asked Harris about gun ownership, following up on a comment she’d made during a conversation with Oprah Winfrey. (Her response: “I have a Glock. And I have had it for quite some time.”)
- Trump. Given questions about the effects of Hurricane Helene on voting, Ingraham gave Trump a chance to explain the GOP’s approach. (His response: “[Party co-chair] Lara [Trump] is working on it. Other people are working on it, and we’re trying to make it convenient for them to — but they just lost their house — we’re trying to make it convenient for them to go out and vote. But we are doing very well in certain areas that we weren’t expected to do.”)
- Harris. Harris was asked to respond to criticism from others in the media. (Her response: “OK.”)
- Trump. Ingraham wanted to know if Trump was wearing the shoes that he had on when he was shot in Pennsylvania. (His response: “It’s different, but it’s sort of similar, but it’s sort of a little different. Those shoes are loaded up with lots of blood. I’m not looking to wear them again.”)
- Trump. After suggesting that the investigations into Trump were invalid, Ingraham gave him a chance to explain how he’d respond if reelected. (His response: “A lot of people say [getting back at them is] what should happen, if you want to know the truth.”)
- Harris. Whitaker challenged Harris on explaining how she would get her economic agenda passed. (Her response: “When you talk quietly with a lot of folks in Congress, they know exactly what I’m talking about because their constituents know exactly what I’m talking about.”)
- Harris. Whitaker pressed Harris on the administration’s relationship with Israel. (Her response: “I think, with all due respect, the better question is: Do we have an important alliance between the American people and the Israeli people? And the answer to that question is yes.”)
How’d you do? Did the questions comport with the expectations about difficulty that you had coming into the quiz? And if not: Did you actually read the questions?
