President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden are facing off for the first time in a long-awaited debate which is taking place in Cleveland, Ohio. Fox News anchor Chris Wallace is moderating the debate and hopes not to influence the presidential debate by being as invisible as possible.
Fox News has a reputation for supporting Trump and his party, making Wallace's role as a moderator a bit more of a wild card. In an interview with Town & Country in 2018, he describes his role as a moderator as being the "cop on the beat," that walks around with a nightstick in a bid to keep both Republicans and Democrats honest.
As expected, this bad cop attitude triggered something similar to a feud between Wallace and the president, who is used to receiving staunch support from his favorite network. While Wallace was moderating the Aug. 2015 Republican primary debate, Trump blasted the anchor.
The great Mike Wallace was a friend of mine,” Trump said of Wallace's father, the late CBS News reporter. He went on to say that Mike was great, but his son is only a "tiny action of Mike." Brushing off the claim, Wallace said one of them has daddy issues, and it wasn't him.
Ironically, Wallace admires Trump, unlike a large number of other cable news anchors, or at least he did about two years ago when he expressed faith in the American government and the separation of powers. Alluding to the administration at the time, Wallace said it looked like institutions were holding.
While it was widely expected that Chris will adopt the Fox News loyalist persona rather than the bad cop character during the debate, it looks like the journalist had a different plan. This plan involves being as invisible as possible while moderating.
Wallace's plan to remain invisible failed as he tangled with the president early in the debate. Trump grew frustrated when the news anchor tried steering the debate as moderator, pressing the president to explain his health care plan, accusing him of trying to cancel the Affordable Care Act without having a backup, The Hill reported.
Trump kept interrupting, leading Wallace to grow frustrated. Reminding Trump that he is the moderator of the debate, the anchor told Trump to let him ask his question. Clapping back at the anchor, Trump suggests it felt like he was debating him and not Biden.
Trump hasn't shied away from openly expressing frustration with Fox News and Wallace, claiming that the network should not criticize his administration.