President Donald Trump regularly lashes out at Fox News’ Chris Wallace, who he compares him to his father, journalist Mike Wallace.
In a tweet last year, Trump said, “Somebody please explain to Chris Wallace of Fox, who will never be his father (and my friend), Mike Wallace, that the Phone Conversation I had with the President of Ukraine was a congenial & good one. It was only Schiff’s made up version of that conversation that was bad!”
Somebody please explain to Chris Wallace of Fox, who will never be his father (and my friend), Mike Wallace, that the Phone Conversation I had with the President of Ukraine was a congenial & good one. It was only Schiff’s made up version of that conversation that was bad!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 14, 2019
On Sunday, he blasted Wallace, “Chris Wallace of @FoxNews, by far the lowest rated of the Sunday morning news programs, can’t get over his poor debate performance, probably even worse than Sleepy Joe’s.”
“His show is a total ‘hit job’ on your favorite President, me!” he added.
Chris Wallace of @FoxNews, by far the lowest rated of the Sunday morning news programs, can’t get over his poor debate performance, probably even worse than Sleepy Joe’s. His show is a total “hit job” on your favorite President, me!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 1, 2020
During an interview with The Washington Post‘s Geoff Edgers, Wallace was asked how he thinks his father would handle the current political climate and try to facilitate a conversation on television.
“He wouldn’t have believed it. He was involved in political wars. He got hit by politicians,” Wallace responded.
He continued to mention the president’s attacks on him, “For some reason, the president thinks it’s going to get under my skin when he says, ‘Chris Wallace is no Mike Wallace,’ to which my response is: One of us has a daddy issue, and it’s not me. I think it’s revealing that he thinks that’s a tough line. I think my father would be shocked at how much things have changed and how degraded our political discourse is.”
“But he would have continued to do what he did. What I like to do on ‘Fox News Sunday’ is to have good, sensible debate among people of goodwill who disagree on the issues, but allow for the other side to be heard,” he added.
Wallace was also asked how he felt about members of Trump’s family not wearing masks during the first presidential debate, which he moderated, in September, he said, “I was not fully conscious of the fact that they weren’t wearing masks until after the debate. I was really focused on preparing for the debate. But after I had the luxury to think about it, I was pissed off. That’s a technical phrase.”
“I mean, did they think that the rules that applied to everybody else didn’t apply to them? I was upset when it turned out I’d been on the stage in a uniquely vulnerable position, and we found out 48 hours after the fact that the president had tested positive for the coronavirus,” he added.
Trump announced that he tested positive for COVID-19 early on the morning of Oct. 2, as IJR reported.