MSNBC’s Ari Melber on Wednesday asked CNN’s Chris Wallace to comment on the criticism that was leveled at him by his then-Fox News colleague Tucker Carlson in the aftermath of the 2020 election.
Carlson in a private message that became public accused Wallace of wrecking the conservative network’s audience because of his refusal to peddle election falsehoods which were being parroted by its other personalities.
Wallace replied to Melber, “Well, I’m employed and Tucker really isn’t anymore.”
“So, that’s part of my response,” Wallace added, recalling his own “very good 18-year run” at Fox where he “asked tough questions” and “booked the toughest guests” regardless of political persuasion.
Wallace later described sensing “a change in Fox” after Donald Trump’s 2020 loss where he felt there was “less interest in, even in the news side, in sticking to the facts, sticking to the truth, and more in telling that audience, to try to win them back, what they wanted to hear.”
Watch the full interview here:
Fox News fired Carlson in April 2023. He’d increasingly leaned in to racist, homophobic and white nationalist talking points on his widely-watched prime time show.
Carlson now hosts a show on X, formerly Twitter, and in his most recent interview, with the platform’s billionaire owner Elon Musk, laughed about the idea of Democratic nominee Kamala Harris being assassinated.
Wallace left Fox News for CNN in 2021. Earlier this week, he said he’d had enough with the “lies” being peddled on Fox.
