Chris Wallace: Barrier between GOP convention, White House ‘completely blown away’

Chris Wallace said “the barrier was completely blown away … for good or for ill” regarding Republican National Convention speeches being broadcast from the White House, with the “Fox News Sunday” host noting that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s remarks at the event violated standing State Department policy.

“What stands out to me is that about two or three weeks ago, Donald Trump suggested that he might make his acceptance speech at the White House,” Wallace said during Fox News coverage of the convention Tuesday evening. “And there was an uproar in Washington. Republican Senate leaders said, ‘That can’t happen. We can’t have that.’ That barrier was completely blown away tonight, for good or for ill.”

The second night of the GOP convention featured a speech by first lady Melania Trump from the Rose Garden and Pompeo’s pre-recorded remarks from Jerusalem.

Earlier Tuesday, Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, announced an investigation into Pompeo’s speech, citing the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal officials from weighing in on elections in their official capacity, and a breach of State Department regulations.

“We do need to point out that secretaries of State have never participated in political speeches,” Wallace said. “In fact, it’s a regulation of the State Department that nobody that’s in the State Department can attend a political event, let alone participate in it. The State Department said, ‘Well, he’s operating in his personal capacity.’ But I don’t know what personal capacity a secretary of State has.”

“People can think it’s a big deal, they can think that’s a little deal, but all of this has never happened before,” he added. “And it’s worth noting.”