Chris Wallace denounces Fox News: At last
When Chris Wallace signed off as the host of “Fox News Sunday” in December, he thanked the network’s management for respecting his editorial independence. “Eighteen years ago, the bosses here at Fox promised me they would never interfere with a guest I booked or a question I asked. And they kept that promise,” said Mr. Wallace, who is now with CNN. “I have been free to report to the best of my ability, to cover the stories I think are important, to hold our country’s leaders to account.”
Nearly four months later, Mr. Wallace is filling in the other half of the equation: Sure, he felt free to do his thing. But he couldn’t abide what was happening in his midst. “I just no longer felt comfortable with the programming at Fox,” Mr. Wallace told Michael Grynbaum of the New York Times. Via Grynbaum:
“‘I’m fine with opinion: conservative opinion, liberal opinion,’ Mr. Wallace said in his first extensive interview about his decision to leave. ‘But when people start to question the truth — Who won the 2020 election? Was Jan. 6 an insurrection? — I found that unsustainable.’
“‘I spent a lot of 2021 looking to see if there was a different place for me to do my job,’ he added.”
Mr. Wallace was asked whether he had any comment on recent statements from Tucker Carlson, who described the Russian invasion of Ukraine as a “border dispute” and wondered aloud why people “hate” Russian President Vladimir Putin. “One of the reasons that I left Fox was because I wanted to put all of that behind me,” Mr. Wallace said, adding that “there has not been a moment when I have second- guessed myself about that decision.”
It’s a good sign that Mr. Wallace sounds a touch weary of having to answer for Fox News. Perhaps some of the outrage over the network’s coverage of the 2020 election had an impact. During his nearly two decades at the network, he functioned as a pillar of legitimacy: No matter how counterfactual or conspiratorial the programming on Fox News’ prime-time programs, Mr. Wallace was always there on Sunday to bring some measure of accountability to both sides. The network could drift only so far, went the reasoning, as long as this hard-news icon remained in the tent.
To judge from Mr. Wallace’s comments to the Times, Fox News’s coverage of Jan. 6 and the “big lie” marked a decisive turn. Again, from Grynbaum:
“‘Before, I found it was an environment in which I could do my job and feel good about my involvement at Fox,’ Mr. Wallace said of his time at the network. ‘And since November of 2020, that just became unsustainable, increasingly unsustainable as time went on.’
“Still, he acknowledged that some viewers may wonder why he did not leave earlier.
“‘Some people might have drawn the line earlier, or at a different point,’ he said, adding: ‘I think Fox has changed over the course of the last year and a half. But I can certainly understand where somebody would say, “Gee, you were a slow learner, Chris.””
Yes, Mr. Wallace “certainly understands” that sentiment because for 18 years he remained employed at a network that promoted the “big lie,” smearing a pair of voting-machine companies in the process; promoted unproven remedies and other misinformation regarding COVID; supported a host (Sean Hannity) who served as a consigliere for the Trump White House; supported a host (Mr. Carlson) who repeatedly offers racist commentary on current affairs; was rocked by an astounding sexual harassment scandal; worked as a cheerleader for the tea party movement; and so much more.
Anyone who questions Mr. Wallace’s line-drawing judgment, in other words, has a massive file of specifics to back their suspicions. In his interview with the Times, Mr. Wallace confirmed that he’d expressed concerns to management about Mr. Carlson’s “Patriot Purge,” a conspiratorial Fox Nation series on the Jan. 6 riots that sought to portray those who attacked the Capitol as maligned lovers of country. It’s unclear whether Mr. Wallace’s efforts had any impact.
Cable news people tend not to open up about contentious topics just for the heck of it. In this instance, Mr. Wallace’s comments about his years with Fox News surface as he and CNN are promoting CNN Plus, a $6-per-month streaming service that’ll feature his show, “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace?” The new gig comes with a pivot, as Mr. Wallace claims he wants to transition from all-politics to a more general-interest beat that includes business, sports and culture. He’ll interview William Shatner as well as songwriter Judy Collins, for example. In addition to Mr. Wallace’s show, there’s programming from former NPR host Audie Cornish, former professional basketball player Rex Chapman and a weekday edition of the media-on-media program “Reliable Sources.”
At this point, however, what Mr. Wallace says about Fox News remains more newsworthy than whatever he’ll be doing on the streaming front, as the news coverage of his “unsustainable” interview makes clear. That’s because Fox News promoted him as a straight-shooting, no-nonsense anchor. His critiques sting just a touch more.