During a “Celebrating the First Amendment” event at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. on Wednesaday, Fox News’ Chris Wallace called out President Trump for, well, not celebrating the First Amendment.
“I believe that President Trump is engaged in the most direct, sustained assault on freedom of the press in our history,” Wallace said, according to the Guardian.
Wallace continued: “He has done everything he can to undercut the media, to try and delegitimize us, and I think his purpose is clear: to raise doubts when we report critically about him and his administration that we can be trusted. Back in 2017, he tweeted something that said far more about him than it did about us: ‘The fake news media is not my enemy. It is the enemy of the American people.’”
The “Fox News Sunday” anchor is a well-regarded member of Fox News’ straight news division, which co-exists — sometimes uncomfortably — with the network’s popular opinion programming.
“A lot of people come up to me these days to say how fair I am,” he said Wednesday in another portion of the remarks, reviewed by TheWrap. “A few even call me a voice of reason, which my children find absolutely hilarious. I like compliments as much as the next guy, but I find this praise kind of depressing. Why? Because when I started in the news business a half century ago, as a reporter for the Boston Globe, fairness wasn’t something to be singled out. It was the bare minimum requirement for the job.”
The veteran journalist has a history of being as harsh on Trump as Trump is on the news media. He told TheWrap in 2016 that the media was being too easy on the then-candidate.
“We do long, in-depth interviews [on “Fox News Sunday”] and part of that is you’re being able to see the face of the politician and watch him react in real time when getting asked tough questions. Quite frankly, it’s a quick, cheap ratings hit to do a phone interview, and they haven’t done it with any other candidate. I think that’s surprising and disappointing,” he said.
Sunday, Wallace will be exclusively interviewing former FBI director James Comey about the newly released inspector general’s report and House Intelligence chair Rep. Adam Schiff on the latest on this week’s impeachment hearings, according to Fox News.