Fox News’ Chris Wallace was excoriated on social media by right-wing pundits, including former and current colleagues at his own network, for his performance moderating the first presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden on Tuesday night.
Wallace, the host of Fox News Sunday and part of the news side of Fox News, as opposed to the partisan opinion side habited by the likes of Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson, was accused of rampant bias against the president by not allowing Trump to talk at length, cutting him off mid-rant and trying to steer the conversation back to the topic.
Wallace was also accused of letting Biden off at certain moments, especially in the discussion about the Green New Deal and laughing along at some of the former vice president’s zingers.
Related Stories
Among those who criticized Wallace were former Fox News colleague Bill O’Reilly and current The Five co-host Greg Gutfeld and Fox & Friends‘ Brian Kilmeade, as well as Fox News contributor Andrew McCarthy.
O’Reilly was most strident in his criticisms, tweeting, “Good line from Trump — he tells Chris Wallace he’s debating him, not Joe.” He later tweeted, “Chris Wallace doesn’t have the facts at his command about the Ukraine payments made to Biden’s son that Trump brought up. Big mistake by Mr. Wallace.”
Kilmeade tweeted, “Why is @JoeBiden allowed to interrupt? @realDonaldTrump is not.”
Gutfeld, in response to a tweet that said that Wallace was laughing along with Biden wasn’t a good look, tweeted, “That was not good.”
Other prominent pro-Trumpists on Twitter were much more vitriolic in their attacks on Wallace. Actor James Woods tweeted that, “Chris Wallace is shamelessly biased. It’s a beautiful demonstration of fake news in action. I’m actually glad it’s happening, because you can see it for yourself.”
Podcaster and Brickhouse nutrition ambassador Ben Shapiro tweeted, “Chris Wallace, over the course of the night, has moved from moderator to debater.”
Conservative firebrand Anne Coulter tweeted, “Every time Trump is nailing Biden, Chris Wallace interrupts. ‘That’s the next topic!'”
The stop-start first debate between the president and the former vice president was increasingly marked by fractious back and forths, with Trump repeatedly interrupting Biden and having to be chided by Wallace. Among a host of low moments during the debate, Trump failed to denounce white supremacists.
