CNN anchor Chris Wallace had a shockingly mild reaction to Nikki Haley’s new campaign theme that President Joe Biden will die in office, and even seemed to defend the substance of the remarks.

At issue is Haley’s casual remark on Fox News, “If you vote for Joe Biden, you really are counting on a President Harris because the idea that he would make it until 86 years old is not something that I think is likely.”

It’s a remark that CNN This Morning co-anchor Poppy Harlow had no trouble interpreting, telling viewers Friday morning that Haley “is facing backlash this morning after she flat out said President Biden probably won’t be alive in five years.”

And former Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) had no trouble denouncing the remarks in an interview with Harlow, as she again translated the ghoulish comments:

HARLOW: He’s not — he’s going to be dead in five years? I mean — and she didn’t walk it back.

JONES: Yes, that’s — No, that’s exactly what she is saying. You know, there is a combination. And I — as I tweeted out, I thought those comments were vile. I think they were appalling. I really do believe they’re not befitting of a presidential candidate or any candidate for public office in the United States of America. And there is an element of race baiting in that as well, too.

Playing on the fears of folks that might not want a strong black woman as president of the United States. And I think that there is some serious issues and I’d love to see some of her Republican colleagues walk it back for her. But I don’t think we’re going to see it. I think they’re going to probably jump onboard. As I said, I think this is a race to the bottom.

HARLOW: That was interesting. This morning, I was looking for Republicans pushing back against it at all and not see it.

Wallace was a guest on Friday morning’s edition of CNN This Morning to talk about the news of the day, as well as to promote the new season of his HBO Max and CNN series Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace.

When Harlow asked Wallace about the comments, he downplayed them as merely “inartful” and “crude” — but then rushed to dissect the political advantages of the attack, praising it as a political “two-fer,” and suggesting other candidates will do the same thing, less crudely and inartfully:

HARLOW: Hey, Chris. Good morning. Before we get to your fascinating interview with Bernie Sanders, I need to hear what you have to say about Nikki Haley elevating the debate over Joe Biden’s age to a whole new level. Here is what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIKKI HALEY, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: If you vote for Joe Biden, you really are counting on a President Harris, because the idea that he would make it until 86 years old is not — is not something that I think is likely. It’s why I continued to say we need to have mental competency tests starting at 75.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Maybe not elevating it. What do you —

HARLOW: Yes, great point, Kaitlan. What do you think?

WALLACE: Well, it was said somewhat in-artfully, and some would say even crudely, but the issue of Biden’s age is going to be an issue in this campaign. There’s no question about it.

And I have always thought that one way to get — in effect, what you are hearing from Nikki Haley there is a two-fer. She is attacking the issue of Biden’s competence and vigor as he runs for a term that would end when he’s 86. She is also taking a shot at Kamala Harris and saying, you don’t want her to be a heartbeat away from the presidency. If Biden’s approval numbers are low, Harris’s numbers are even lower. And I suspect that you are going to see, maybe done more artfully than Governor Haley did there, a lot of talk during the next 12, 14 months where people are saying President Harris? with a question mark, because a lot of people don’t like that prospect.

COLLINS: Yes, they think that’s an easier attack.

Now I’ve said before that while I never used to be a particular fan of Wallace while he was at Fox News, his journalistic authority is beyond question — perversely because of where he worked.

But since his move to CNN, he has exposed a deeply empathetic side that was never evident at Fox, which made his reaction to Haley’s disgraceful comments all the more shocking. Openly campaigning on the likely death of your opponent is crossing a line that should produce outrage in anyone — it certainly seemed to in Harlow.

It was genuinely shocking to hear Wallace fail to express any outrage at all, let alone an appropriate level. It was even more shocking for him to openly endorse the premise of the attack — that raising the specter of President Kamala Harris stepping in after a tragedy — as a politically potent attack that other candidates are sure to emulate.

This is not to pick on Wallace — the decency I have come to expect of him is what makes this noteworthy. But this remark has not generated appropriate levels of attention from any of the media. If Biden or any Democrat had flat-out said Trump will be dead before he can finish his term, it would lead every newscast for two years and there’d be a congressional committee devoted to investigating it.

Watch above via  CNN This Morning.

The post CNN’s Chris Wallace Weirdly Downplays and Quasi-Praises Nikki Haley’s *Biden Will Die In Office* Campaign first appeared on Mediaite.

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