Chris Wallace Hits DNC For ‘Stunning’ Ban of Fox News From Primary Debates

Fox News’ Chris Wallace says the Democratic National Committee (DNC) is shooting itself in the foot by banning his network from hosting primary debates for the 2020 election.

In an interview with The New York Times, Wallace expressed disappointment in the DNC’s “stunning” decision to bar Fox from hosting any of the debates for the Democratic field. He called the move “shortsighted” on the DNC’s part, saying the Democrats are giving up a chance to make their case to Fox’s audience and recapture some of the voters who’ve swung away from the party in recent years.

DNC Chairman Tom Perez has justified the ban on Fox by citing The New Yorker‘s extensive report on the network’s relationship with President Donald Trump. Wallace reacted to that before by calling it “Fox Derangement Syndrome,” and in his conversation with the Times, he called out the DNC again by saying they were using the article as a convenient excuse.

“Do I think Tom Perez read the New Yorker article and suddenly said, ‘Oh, my gosh, there’s gambling going on in the back room?’ No…There is a visceral antipathy to Fox News among the left wing of the Democratic Party, and I think they saw this as a good opportunity to make a decision that I’m sure the D.N.C. was under a lot of pressure to make.”

Wallace continued by dismissing the criticisms against Fox News by citing the separation of its news division and the opinion hosts who hold close, friendly relationships with the president. He also said Democrats have counterintuitively given cover to Trump’s threat to not appear on the “fake news networks” in retaliation for Fox’s banishment.

“This does give President Trump a pretty good excuse to decide if and when he’ll do debates in the general election. If the Democrats are going to boycott certain venues, maybe the president will too. I think that’d be a huge mistake; I think that’d be bad for the country, but the Democrats have opened the door to the president being able to say now we’re going to pick and choose where we answer questions from.”

— —

>> Follow Ken Meyer (@KenMeyer91) on Twitter

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!