Chris Wallace Goes Off on Trump Family For Refusing to Wear Masks: ‘A Remarkable Disregard’ For the Safety of Others
Fox News anchor Chris Wallace criticized President Donald Trump’s family for refusing to wear masks during the first 2020 presidential debate between Trump and Joe Biden last month, calling it “a remarkable disregard for the safety of others.”
During an appearance on Mediaite’s The Interview podcast with editor in chief Aidan McLaughlin, Wallace — who moderated the first debate — said he was “troubled” by the Trump family’s decision to not wear masks.
He noted that after sitting down, guests from Donald Trump Jr. to Ivanka Trump, Mark Meadows and Kimberly Guilfoyle removed their masks for the entire debate, violating the rules.
“What I was more troubled by was the failure of the first family and some top aides to wear masks in the audience because the rules of the Cleveland Clinic were absolutely clear,” he declared. “Which was everybody except for the president, the vice president, and I were to wear masks, and while they walked in with masks, Melania, and Ivanka, and Don Jr., and Kimberly and all of them took off their masks.”
“I was certainly aware that they weren’t wearing their masks and I was troubled by that,” he continued, noting, “It later turned out that somebody from the Cleveland Clinic actually came over to them and asked them to put on their masks and they just declined to do so.”
“I just think that showed a remarkable disregard for the risk of the virus and for the safety of other people in the hall,” Wallace said.
The Fox News anchor went on to say that “it didn’t matter” that the Trump family had tested negative for Covid-19, explaining, “Everybody in that hall had had a negative test. There was no exemption for somebody if your last name was Trump.”
“It just showed an utter disregard for the risks and an attitude as if the rules that applied to everybody else didn’t apply to them,” he concluded. “I think it was very concerning on their part.”
Trump was admitted to Walter Reed Medical Center last week, after he tested positive for Covid-19 and his oxygen levels fluctuated. A number of his closest aides — and three senators — have also tested positive for the coronavirus, and much of the U.S. government is now under quarantine.
Those cases are suspected to have stemmed from the Rose Garden ceremony announcing the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, which was held days before the debate Wallace moderated.
On The Interview, Wallace said he was “shocked” by that event, which he deemed “reckless” in its disregard for precautions.
“We don’t know for sure. But I certainly have my suspicions that that event… turned out to be a super spreader,” he said. “And an awful amount of people got hurt by that.”
Listen above via Mediaite’s The Interview. You can listen to the full interview with Chris Wallace here.
