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Chris Wallace, the Fox News host who sat less than 12 feet from President Trump while moderating Tuesday’s presidential debate in Cleveland, has tough advice for his network’s viewers: “Wear the fucking mask.”
Appearing on “Fox & Friends” and other Fox News shows on Friday, Wallace repeatedly emphasized the threat of the coronavirus, pointing to the lack of qualifications of one of Trump’s top medical advisers and saying he was well aware of its potential. exposure after the president tested positive for the virus.
“Follow the science,” Wallace said. “If I could say one thing to all the people who are watching: Forget about politics. This is a public safety health issue. “
The host, who has expressed regret at the chaotic nature of Tuesday’s debate, said he planned to get tested for coronavirus on Monday on the advice of his doctors, who said any infection could take several days to produce a positive result.
Several Fox News opinion anchors have accused much of the national media of exaggerating the dangers of the virus, while defending Trump’s prerogative to hold large campaign rallies against the advice of health experts. . A frequent Fox News guest who downplayed the risks, Dr. Scott Atlas has since become one of the president’s top pandemic advisers.
On Friday, Wallace was unequivocal in warning against Dr. Atlas’s advice, even as his colleague, Fox News host Sandra Smith, scoffed at an exclusive interview with Dr. Atlas in which the doctor said he hoped that Trump to make a full comment. recovery and return to the campaign.
“I’m going to say something and, folks, I’m just trying to tell you the truth,” Wallace said. “Dr. Scott Atlas is not an epidemiologist, he is not an infectious disease expert; he has no training in this area. There are several important people on the president’s coronavirus task force who have had serious concerns about Scott Atlas and his scientific good faith “.
“I know I’m going to get a big push out of this,” Wallace continued, adding, “Listen to people like Anthony Fauci, listen to people like Deborah Birx, who have been largely isolated. Listen to the freelancers who don’t have a political ax to work with and frankly I don’t think Scott Atlas is one of those people. “
Relating his experience in Tuesday’s debate, Wallace told viewers that members of Trump’s family removed their masks after entering the debate room in violation of the rules of the Cleveland Clinic, which had been hired to supervise the health and safety protocols of the event. “A health person from the Cleveland Clinic approached the first family when they were seated and offered them masks in case they didn’t have them, and they fired them,” recalls the presenter.
Wallace, who said his wife and children, who also attended, wore masks in the hallway, estimated that he was sitting “10 or 12 feet” from Trump and that the candidates were about eight feet apart on stage. “I never got closer to him than what you saw on television,” he said.
In a later appearance on Friday, Wallace declined when asked by a Fox News panelist, Melissa Francis, how the president’s positive test could affect Biden’s campaign strategy.
“That’s not the story today,” Wallace said, adding, “For me, the bottom line to all of this is to follow the science.”
