Fox News’ Chris Wallace Admits Donald Trump-Joe Biden Debate Went ‘Completely Off The Tracks’
Fox News host Chris Wallace on Wednesday admitted to The New York Times that the Tuesday presidential debate he moderated between President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden went “completely off the tracks.”
“I never dreamt that it would go off the tracks the way it did,” the host said, calling the event a “terrible missed opportunity.”
Wallace admitted to the publication that he was too slow to realize that Trump — who repeatedly interrupted Biden during the debate — was not planning to follow the rules of the event.
“I guess I didn’t realize — and there was no way you could, hindsight being 20/20 — that this was going to be the president’s strategy, not just for the beginning of the debate but the entire debate.”
The New York Times noted that Wallace received praise for his moderation in 2016. But according to Wallace, this week’s debacle was unlike anything he has been through before. The Fox News host said he was unnerved when Trump continued to interrupt Biden and showed no signs of letting up.
“If I didn’t try to seize control of the debate — which I don’t know that I ever really did — then it was going to just go completely off the tracks.”
As The Inquisitr reported, the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) released a statement following Tuesday’s debate — later circulated on Twitter — that committed to rule changes for future events to create a “more orderly discussion of the issues.” Nevertheless, the commission praised Wallace for his “professionalism and skill.”
The next presidential debate is set to be held by Steve Scully of C-SPAN on October 15 in Miami, Florida. Afterward, the final debate is set to be held on October 22 in Nashville, Tennessee, and be moderated by Kristen Welker of NBC News. While speaking to The New York Times, Wallace said he hoped moderators would be quicker to realize if and when any of the candidates employ a similar strategy as Trump did on Tuesday.
An instant audience poll conducted by CBS claimed that Biden defeated Trump in Tuesday night’s debate. Notably, 48 percent of respondents said Biden was the victor, while just 41 percent said Trump was the winner. Still, the survey also found that the most common audience reaction to the debate was annoyance, suggesting that the chaotic experience described by Wallace affected Americans watching at home.
Elsewhere, a CNN poll found that 60 percent of respondents thought Biden won, and 28 believed Trump was the victor.
