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Chris Wallace ‘Pissed Off’ First Family Didn’t Wear Masks During First Debate

   DailyWire.com
Chris Wallace and Trump
Pool/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Fox News anchor Chris Wallace said earlier this week that he was “pissed off” to learn that President Donald Trump’s family neglected to wear masks during the first presidential debate last month.

Speaking with Washington Post reporter Geoff Edgers in an Instagram Live interview published Sunday, Wallace said, “After I had the luxury to think about it, I was pissed off. That’s a technical phrase. I mean, did they think that the rules that applied to everybody else didn’t apply to them?”

“I was upset when it turned out I’d been on the stage in a uniquely vulnerable position, and we found out 48 hours after the fact that the president had tested positive for the coronavirus,” Wallace added.

The Trumps and their guests were photographed in the audience of the first presidential debate without masks, which Wallace later complained about.

As The Washington Post reported:

A little more than two days before she reported testing positive for the coronavirus, first lady Melania Trump — as well as the president’s sons, daughters and several guests — violated safety protocols at the first presidential debate by taking off their masks after being seated in a live studio audience in Cleveland.

Several in the president’s entourage continued without masks after an official from the Cleveland Clinic, which co-hosted the debate, offered them masks in case they didn’t have any, according to debate moderator Chris Wallace. “They waved them away,” Wallace said on Fox News on Friday morning.

Days after the debate, Trump came down with COVID-19, which later spread to first lady Melania Trump and their son, Barron. Despite spending some days at Walter Reed Medical Center, Trump recovered and returned to the White House in a display that saw him ascend the steps of the South Portico, rip off his mask, and salute Marine One as it flew away.

Wallace was widely criticized for his performance as the moderator of the first presidential debate between Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden, which CNN host Jake Tapper described as “a hot mess, inside a dumpster fire, inside a train wreck.”

Wallace’s successor, NBC News journalist Kristen Welker, received favorable reviews for her moderation of the final presidential debate, which led Wallace to claim he was “jealous” of how well-received she was.

As The Daily Wire reported:

Fox News anchor Chris Wallace said that he was “jealous” of Thursday night debate moderator NBC News journalist Kristen Welker, who received generally positive reviews for her performance.

Wallace received backlash from both the Left and the Right for his fumbled debate moderating last month.

“Well, first of all I’m jealous,” Wallace said on Fox News airwaves post-debate.

“I would have liked to have been able to moderate that debate and to get a real exchange of views instead of hundreds of interruptions,” he said, adding that it was overall a “good substantive debate” with slight Biden-leaning bias.

Wallace, who was hit by Republicans and Democrats alike for allowing chaos to ensue during his debate moderating, seemed to suggest Welker was helped by a new rule from the Commission on Presidential Debates which allows for the “muting” of former VP Joe Biden and President Donald Trump’s mics for their first two-minute responses. However, journalist Brit Hume suggested in the same segment that it seemed Welker did not have to use the “mute” button at all.

Related: Chris Wallace Says He’s ‘Jealous’ Of Moderator Kristen Welker: Wish I Had That Debate

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