Vice President Harris will do her first Fox News interview Wednesday

Vice President Kamala Harris will sit down with Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier on Wednesday for her first interview on the conservative-leaning channel.

The network announced Monday that Baier will talk with the Democratic nominee for president in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, where polls show her with a slight lead over her Republican opponent, former President Trump. The interview will be on "Special Report With Bret Baier," which airs at 6 p.m. Eastern and 3 p.m. Pacific.

Harris has never made a formal appearance on Fox News, whose conservative hosts and commentators malign her on their programs throughout the day.

Since becoming her party's nominee, Harris has frequently been criticized on the network for choosing friendly media forums for her interviews, although the same case can be made against Trump, who bailed out of a scheduled "60 Minutes" booking earlier this month. (Harris appeared on the program.)

But Fox News, the leader in cable news ratings, has touted its ability to reach viewers who describe themselves as Democrats or voters not registered with a political party. The network has increased the number of Democratic politicians it books as guests over the last year. Harris' running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, has appeared twice on "Fox News Sunday," which also airs on Fox broadcast affiliates.

Baier has worked to keep "Special Report" a neutral zone. This year he launched a segment called "Common Ground," where political leaders from the right and left appear together to discuss issues in a congenial manner.

Trump, in his recent discussions about the possibility of a second debate with Harris, has said he would participate in one on Fox News with Baier and Martha MacCallum, who anchor major political events for the network. Baier conducted a combative interview last year with Trump , who prefers the favorable treatment he gets from the network's opinion hosts.

Fox is doing a town hall-style program with Trump, who will be taking questions from an all-female audience. The session, moderated by Fox News anchor Harris Faulkner , will be taped Tuesday in Georgia for airing on Wednesday at 11 a.m. Eastern on "The Faulkner Focus."

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times .