Chris Wallace’s Heart Isn’t Really Into Journalism

This morning on Fox News Sunday, the lowest rated of all the network Sunday morning news programs, host Chris Wallace once again demonstrated his lack of commitment to fairness and balance when he asked the Weekly Standard’s Stephen Hayes an absurdly framed question about Obama’s speech on the Iraq troop withdrawal last week:

Wallace: In that speech, to say “my central mission is to restore the economy,” is it unfair to say that this is a president whose heart doesn’t seem to be into winning the war on terror, no matter what it costs?
Hayes: No, I don’t think that’s at all unfair

Hayes deftly picked up the cue from Wallace who was obviously presenting Hayes with a gift-wrapped opening to disparage the President. For either of these notorious hacks to suggest that Obama’s attention to this nation’s serious economic difficulties translates into disinterest in battling Al Qaeda is borderline psychotic.

The President’s focus is pretty squarely aligned with that of the American people who are most concerned about the economy and jobs. That doesn’t preclude anyone from being concerned about national security as well. However, most serious analysts recognize that without a stable domestic economy we cannot expect to have much success in achieving our international security goals.

The ridiculous framing of Wallace’s question is not a fluke. He has long been a source of overt bias even as Fox News touts him as an example of their “real” news personalities, distinct from blatherers like Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, Megyn Kelly, Neil Cavuto, Glenn Beck, and the cast of Fox & Friends. Some of Wallace’s great moments in partisanship include:

  • Asking Rush Limbaugh what Obama has done TO the country.
  • Awarding ACORN pimp, James O’Keefe, the Power Player of the Week.
  • Calling Democrats “damn fools” for declining to appear on Fox News.
  • Admitting that he “generally agrees” with Sean Hannity.
  • Jumping to the defense of George W. Bush after director Ron Howard suggested comparisons to Richard Nixon.
  • Declaring Sarah Palin to be a “new star in the political galaxy.”
  • Asked George Bush if he was “puzzled by all of the concern in this country about protecting [the] rights of people who want to kill us.”
  • In a criticism of Democratic health care plans, making the hilarious observation that “people don’t even contemplate end of life until they’re in an irreversible coma.”

Chris Wallace long ago cemented his reputation as a partisan phony in the field of journalism. He was fortunate to find his home on Fox News because few other news organizations would tolerate his level of unprofessionalism. But I suppose we should appreciate his willingness to serve up new examples of deceit and bias with each of his weekly outings. It makes it just that much easier to dismiss him and to prove that he and Fox News are not actually news and are wholly unworthy of our trust.

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3 thoughts on “Chris Wallace’s Heart Isn’t Really Into Journalism

  1. You forgot what, in my mind, is Wallace’s worst lapse of judgment. President Clinton granted him an interview. Clinton’s purpose was to promote his charity. If I recall, Wallace agreed in advance to devote half the interview to it.

    The interview was a complete sham. Wallace didn’t even compose his own questions for it. They were polled from Fox News’ right-wing fanboys. It was a completely partisan ambush of the worst kind.

    Of course, Clinton reacted badly which was the whole point of the exercise: embarrass the ‘enemy.’ At one point Clinton protested his charity wasn’t being covered. Wallace blamed Clinton for it because he was talking too much responding to Wallace’s loaded questions. Wallace finally asked some pro-form questions which demonstrated no preparation or interest in that topic. If I recall, the interview then jumped right back into full ambush mode.

    While Wallace often tries to rise above being a partisan poodle for Fox News because he appears on the more mainstream Fox entertainment channel, his stuff too often is crap. Like his recent “exclusive” interview of Glenn Beck after his rally which was mostly drool.

    Plus, even when his stuff isn’t so bad he shows up on Fox & Friends the next morning to talk about it and there, back in the partisan sewer of the Fox News mother-ship, often starts spinning to the right to appease his base.

    • I’m sure I left out a bunch of Wallace’s lapses of judgment. There’s only so much bandwidth.

  2. Every time I hear Chris Wallace “tease” the upcoming “Power Player of the Week” segment, I think to myself, “does anyone sit in rapt attention to see who it’s going to be?” Could there be a more meaningless segment on any of these Sunday shows? I zip through FOX “News” Sunday on the DVR, and it usually takes about 30 minutes. Huge number of commercials, and I skip the last segment. None of these shows is terrific, but Wallace’s is by far the worst.

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