Fox News anchor Chris Wallace placed the blame for this week’s debate disaster squarely on the shoulders of President Trump.
Wallace had received a fair amount of negative press for his own performance, being unable to reign in either candidate during the tumultuous event.
In an initial post-debate interview, he expressed regret with the way things went down.
“I’m just sad with the way last night turned out,” Wallace said in an interview with the New York Times. “I never dreamt that it would go off the tracks the way it did.”
In a subsequent interview with his own network, however, Wallace went on the offensive.
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“The president was determined to try to butt in or throw Joe Biden off,” he asserted later adding, “He bears the primary responsibility for what happened on Tuesday night.”
The debate moderator compared his performance to being a master chef, ruined by an obnoxious patron.
“I had baked this beautiful, delicious cake and frankly, the president put his foot in it. And that was frustrating, frustrating for me because I tried hard to prepare for a serious debate,” he said.
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Trump Takes to Twitter to Respond to Chris Wallace Debate Accusations
President Trump responded to Wallace’s claims taking several subtle shots at him on social media, though many were from retweets rather than direct statements.
Trump did respond to one message indicating the next debate would also be a 2-on-1 affair saying, “I’m used to it!”
Other tweets shared claims that it was Biden, not Trump, who initiated the interruptions.
.@AriFleischer is 100% correct about the debate. Here’s a video of the first three interruptions, and they’re all Biden interrupting Trump: pic.twitter.com/f9b1zyQQZM
— Eddie Zipperer (@EddieZipperer) October 1, 2020
Another from the Federalist’s Ben Domenech goes after Wallace’s comments directly.
“In this interview, Chris Wallace claimed the President was the first to interrupt. That is definitively false,” he writes, sharing a transcript of the debate.
In this interview Chris Wallace claimed the President was the first to interrupt. That is definitively false, just like his comments about Critical Race Theory and about Kenosha. https://t.co/8omibbEMzR pic.twitter.com/DaKEpNItjI
— Ben Domenech (@bdomenech) October 1, 2020
Author David Harris Jr. was retweeted by the President.
“Anyone else tired of the lies?” he asked. “Chris Wallace of [Fox News Sunday] should be ashamed of himself!”
Anyone else tired of the lies?
Chris Wallace of @foxnewssunday should be ashamed of himself!
RT so America knows the truth! #TrumpIsARacist my ass! pic.twitter.com/4qwuDG3y5W
— David J Harris Jr (@DavidJHarrisJr) September 30, 2020
Wallace Own Colleagues Take Aim at HIM
Wallace’s performance was panned by nearly everybody on all sides of the political aisle, including his own network colleagues.
Fox News host Brian Kilmeade wanted to know why Biden is “allowed to interrupt” while Trump is not.
Former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly took note of President Trump’s line that he was debating Wallace.
Donald Trump Jr., the president’s son, appeared with Fox News personality Sean Hannity after the debate and offered his thoughts on the moderator’s performance. Hannity offered no defense of Wallace.
Don Jr. knocks Chris Wallace, telling @SeanHannity, “I understand he is a fox guy, but he’s no conservative. He’s no centrist either.”
Hannity doesn’t offer a word of defense for his colleague. pic.twitter.com/tNKgYOgJbl
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) September 30, 2020
Co-host of ‘The Five,’ Greg Gutfeld, in response to a tweet that said that Wallace was laughing along with Biden wasn’t a good look, said, “That was not good.”
That was not good
— GregGutfeld (@greggutfeld) September 30, 2020
“Trump is debating the moderator and Biden,” host Laura Ingraham tweeted.
Trump is debating the moderator and Biden.
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) September 30, 2020
Despite what Wallace claims, it seems a vast majority of people place the blame on him for losing control of the debate.
Read more at the Political Insider