“We talk about everything,” Chris Wallace told Fox News host Bill Hemmer on Friday afternoon, before his first meeting with President Donald Trump in nearly two years.
The full interview will air Fox News Sunday this weekend, but two pre-released shorts show just how controversial it promises to be.
Sitting what appeared to be less than six feet away, Wallace asked Trump if he regrets not wearing a mask in public before last weekend. “The CDC says that if everyone wore a mask for four to six weeks, we could get this under control,” said the host of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has now claimed more than 135,000 American lives. “Will they consider a national mandate that people will need to wear masks?”
“No, I want people to have some freedom,” said Trump. “And I don’t believe in that, no. I don’t believe in the statement that if everyone wore a mask, it would all go away. ”
“Hey, Dr. Fauci said don’t wear a mask. Our surgeon general, a great guy, said don’t wear a mask, ”the president continued, citing a months-long guide that has been updated now that more is known about how the virus spreads. “Everybody was saying not to wear a mask and suddenly everyone should wear a mask.” Without explanation, he added: “As you know, masks also cause problems.”
“That said, I believe in masks,” said Trump, who seemed to contradict himself. “I think the masks are good.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Trump was visibly upset when Wallace checked on his opponent Joe Biden’s political prescriptions on the police. When Trump said that Biden “wants to pay the police,” Wallace interrupted him to say, “Sir, you don’t.”
“Let’s go!” Trump said, seeking help from his staff. “Get me the letter, please.”
Speaking to Hemmer about the interview, Wallace explained that what followed was a “very interesting exchange” in which Trump had his staff go get the highlights of the Biden-Bernie Sanders deal.
“And he went through it and found a lot of things that he opposed, that Biden has accepted,” Wallace said, “but couldn’t find any indication, because there is none,” that Joe Biden has sought to disburse and abolish the police. “
.
