CNN’s Chris Wallace stepped in to scold a panelist on The Chris Wallace Show for attempting to change the subject after he defended former President Donald Trump and Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance spreading a false story about Haitian migrants stealing and eating pets in Springfield, Ohio.

CNN political commentator Reihan Salam found himself as the only one willing to provide any sort of defense for Vance and Trump, who have spread the conspiracy theory despite Ohio officials, including Gov. Mike DeWine (R), shooting down these claims as false and not backed up by any actual evidence.

Salam defended Vance by saying the pet-eating claims are reports his campaign has received.

“Is there a single verifiable claim that a pet was stolen from somebody’s house and a Haitian migrant ate it?” Wallace asked.

“Not that I know of, but what I will say is this. They are hearing these complaints and what Senator Vance was seeking to do is draw attention to what is happening in Springfield, Ohio,” Salam said.

The commentator argued Vance is facing an “extremely challenging media environment” and he didn’t take the right “rhetorical tact” here. Salam claimed Vance was really using the false claim to draw attention to larger issues stemming from the inflow of migrants into Springfield.

Podcaster Kara Swisher pushed back saying if Vance can’t verify the claims, he should not be repeating them.

“Then he should stop because a rumor is a rumor. He should stop,” she said as Salam argued Vance was not “lying.”

At one point, Salam brought up East Palestine, Ohio (where a freight train carrying hazardous materials derailed in 2023) to point out that Vance cares about issues in Ohio, but Wallace would not let his panelist move on from the pet-eating claims defense.

“This is the same Senator Vance who is speaking out about the people of East Palestine, Ohio,” Salam said.

“No, no, no, you’re not going to switch to another place. We’re talking about Springfield, Ohio, Reihan, so let’s stay the subject,” Wallace warned.

I’m saying something very simple, which is that he’s hearing from people who normally are not listened to. He is hearing from people who are normally not trusted and discounted,” Salam said.

“We’re not talking about that. We’re talking about a fact. Either it happened or it didn’t,” Wallace said.

When Wallace moved back to Salam, the commentator again argued in favor of Vance drawing attention to other migrant-related issues.

“I think that Senator Vance is in an extremely challenging media environment right now. I think that he’s made some bad calls. And I also think that the ferocious response to it has elicited a response that has not been entirely constructive from him. And I think it’s a really rough situation for the campaign, but I also think that this has moved the focus to the border chaos and the migration issue, for what it’s worth,” he said. ”

“By making up a lie,” Wallace said before moving on.

Check out the exchange below:

REIHAN SALAM: “He’s talking about a range of issues. He’s not focusing on this.”

CHRIS WALLACE: “When he’s talking about Haitians eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, e’s not talking about range of issues. It’s either a lie or it’s the truth.”

SALAM: He continues, his office continues to receive reports about this, which they were trying to chase down and understand. Look, I do not believe that this was the right rhetorical tact to take, but I do believe that he is not being deceptive or dishonest.”

WALLACE: “How about just as a moral tact?”

SALAM: “I believe that he cares deeply about everyone in Springfield and everyone in Ohio. But that’s not I’m not here to speak on his behalf.”

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO: “Can I ask you a question? I’m really curious about this.”

SALAM: “I’m trying to offer some context. You guys are claiming that he is lying.”

GARCIA-NAVARRO: “I’m getting the context, but what I’m curious about is you have JD Vance, who is the senator from Ohio and that is true. And it is a Republican run state. You have the governor, you have the Republican mayor, you have Republican representatives all saying that this is false, defamatory and, more than that, hurtful to the community. The people that supposedly the both Trump and Vance are trying to help.”

SALAM: “This is the same Senator Vance who is speaking out about the people of East Palestine, Ohio.”

WALLACE: “No, no, no, you’re not going to switch to another place. We’re talking about Springfield, Ohio, Reihan, so let’s stay the subject.

SALAM: “I’m saying something very simple, which is that he’s hearing from people who normally are not listened to. He is hearing from people who are normally not trusted and discounted.”

WALLACE: “We’re not talking about that. We’re talking about a fact. Either it happened or it didn’t. Jim, I don’t know, what do you [think]?”

JIM GERAGTHY: “There are 1,000,001 legitimate gripes you can make about Biden’s immigration policy, Biden asylum policy, the border, all that kind of stuff. Instead, Donald Trump, who doesn’t like to bother with policy details, on the debate stage, went with the thing was probably very easy to remember. ‘Did you see this the the cats. The reason the dogs.’ Very simple. Very easy to remember. And that’s what gets out there. And I suppose in some really cynical argument, you could say, well, that’s not true, but it gets people talking about Haitians, but it’s far too much of a transitive property. I just love to have a candidate who knew what he was talking about.”

KARA SWISHER: “He literally just said, I’m going to keep calling them illegal aliens, even though they’re not. He’s doubling down. He just said that. So what is what is happening with this person that he can’t —”

SALAM: “Sorry, which person?”

SWISHER: “JD Vance, why can’t he stop?”

SALAM: “I think that Senator Vance is in an extremely challenging media environment right now. I think that he’s made some bad calls. And I also think that the ferocious response to it has elicited a response that has not been entirely constructive from him. And I think it’s a really rough situation for the campaign, but I also think that this has moved the focus to the border chaos and the migration issue, for what it’s worth.”

WALLACE: “By making up a lie.”

Watch above via CNN.

The post Chris Wallace Dead Stops Panelist From Changing Subject After Defending Trump’s False Pet-Eating Stories: ‘You’re Not Going to Switch’ first appeared on Mediaite.

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