Fox News host Chris Wallace said Sunday that he will destroy whatever tiny shred of credibility he has a journalist and refuse to point out when either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump are lying when he moderates the final Presidential debate on October 19.
Appearing with fellow Fox host Howard Kurtz, Wallace had this to say when Kurtz asked if he would attempt to call the candidates out if they stray into obvious fiction:
“That’s not my job. I do not believe it is my job to be a truth squad. It’s up to the other person to catch them on that. I certainly am going to try to maintain some reasonable semblance of equal time. If one of them is filibustering, I’m going to try to break in respectfully and give the other person a chance to talk. But I want it to be about them — I want it to be as much of a debate, people often talk that it’s simultaneous news conferences.”
So exactly what role will Wallace seek as moderator? To that, he remarked:
“It isn’t coming up with a killer question, not coming up with the great follow-up. I see myself as a conduit to ask the questions and basically to get the two candidates, or as I say, if one of the other people is on the stage as well, one of the third-party candidates, but to get the candidates to engage. I view it as kind of being a referee in a heavyweight championship fight. If it — if it succeeds when it’s over, people will say, you did a great job. I don’t even remember you ever even being on the stage.”
“Frankly… these two just plain don’t like each other. I suspect I’m not going to have any problem getting them to engage with each other, but I don’t view my role as truth-squading and I think that is a step too far. If people want to do it after the debate, fine, it’s not my role.”
Other members of the press weighed in on Wallace’s comments:
What crap. The job of every journalist is to dig out the truth. https://t.co/3js9F3oeaK
— John Russell (@JohnRussell99) September 4, 2016
Moderator should step back, let candidates go at it. But if Trump or Clinton dissembles (they will) he must step in. https://t.co/uiDvNboRvQ
— Jon Ralston (@RalstonReports) September 4, 2016
1. The most striking part of the Chris Wallace interview was when he said he'd allow lying at the prez debate https://t.co/AdRUPPoRlZ
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) September 5, 2016
Hey, Chris, your father, Mike Wallace, who was a real journalist, would be ashamed of you if he were still alive.
This article was originally published by the same author at LiberalAmerica.org