Fox News’s Chris Wallace said he was “pissed off” when he learned the first family had disregarded the rules and not worn masks during the first presidential debate.
In an Instagram Live interview with Washington Post reporter Geoff Edgers posted Sunday, Wallace, who moderated the debate, said he was “not fully conscious of the fact they weren’t wearing masks” because he was focused on his preparation.
“After I had the luxury to think about it, I was pissed off. That’s a technical phrase. I mean, did they think that the rules that applied to everybody else didn’t apply to them?” said Wallace. “I was upset when it turned out I’d been on the stage in a uniquely vulnerable position, and we found out 48 hours after the fact that the president had tested positive for the coronavirus.”
Just days after the Sept. 29 debate, the White House announced the president and first lady had tested positive for COVID-19. In the coming days, a number of White House aides also tested positive. The president spent three days at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
Edgers also asked Wallace what he thought his father, the late venerated broadcast journalist Mike Wallace, would have thought of the chaotic presidential debate.
“He wouldn’t have believed it. He was involved in political wars. He got hit by politicians. For some reason, the president thinks it’s going to get under my skin when he says, ‘Chris Wallace is no Mike Wallace,’ to which my response is: One of us has a daddy issue, and it’s not me,” said Wallace.