Chris Wallace Slaps Back at Jake Tapper Over Not-So-Subtle Jab at His Debate Moderator Performance: ‘He’s Right, He Isn’t Chris Wallace’
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The presidential debate that featured a metaphorical septuagenarian slap fight between President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden has now sparked a battle of words between two of the best known cable news hosts — CNN’s Jake Tapper and Fox News’ Chris Wallace, who moderated the infamous “sh*t show” debate.
The cross-channel quarrel kicked off when Tapper had a fiery interview with Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh go off the rails on Wednesday, ending with a clearly frustrated Tapper abruptly wrapping up the segment with a snarky reference to Wallace’s inability to keep Biden — and especially Trump — from interrupting and talking when it wasn’t their turn to speak.
Tapper and Murtaugh then clashed over and over, breaking into each other’s remarks. When Tapper conducted yet another analysis of Trump’s “very fine people” comments after the neo-Nazi march in Charlottesville in 2017, Murtaugh shot back: “I’m not going to relitigate.”
“Right,” Tapper hit back, “because there were none. That’s the point.”
That prompted Murtaugh to launch into a long harangue about Biden’s record on racial issues in the 1970s, during which he refused to concede any airtime to the CNN host.
“Okay, you know what,” a visibly frustrated Tapper finally said, shuffling his interview notes with a grimace on his face. “I’m not Chris Wallace.”
And with the sarcasm in his voice plainly evident, Tapper slammed shut the door: “Thank you, Tim! Appreciate it. Thank you so much.”
Wallace got his turn to fire back Thursday on his Fox News colleague Guy Benson‘s podcast, The Guy Benson Show.
“There have been some people in our business,” said Benson, “who have taken this opportunity to take some potshots at you. There was one CNN anchor who’s done it a few times on the air. He threw an interrupting guest off his show yesterday. He said, ‘I’m not Chris Wallace.'”
“You know what? Can I just say something about that?” Wallace broke in.
“Sure,” replied Benson.
“He’s right, he isn’t Chris Wallace,” Wallace quipped.
“Fact check, true!” Benson replied. “Literally.”
Wallace started to say more, but Benson cut him off, saying he understood what he was saying. “That type of comment didn’t sit well with me, as your colleague who respects you a lot,” said Benson. “I think the ability to throw a guest off of a TV show is very different than — what? Doing what? To the President of the United States? You can’t go tase the guy, right?”
“To me, I feel like that’s an unfair hit, in my opinion,” said Benson.
“It’s easy to criticize from the cheap seats,” said Wallace.
Listen above, via The Guy Benson Show. The relevant section begins around the six minute mark.
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