On Sunday, Fox News host Chris Wallace, who conducted a frank and tough interview with President Trump that aired last week, stated that the team for former Vice President Joe Biden informed Wallace that Biden was “not available” for Wallace to interview him.
Wallace told Fox News anchor Bret Baier, “The fact is, the president is out there. He’s out there in this broiling heat with me for an hour; he took all the questions. You can like his answers or dislike them but he had answers and Joe Biden hasn’t faced that kind of scrutiny, hasn’t faced that kind of exposure,” as Forbes reported.
Wallace, who last interviewed Biden all the way back on March 1, concluded, “We’ll keep asking every week.”
In Trump’s interview with Wallace, there was this exchange regarding Wallace conducting an interview with Biden:
Trump: You know how many times I have been written off? Do you know how many times I’ve been written off?
Wallace: I’ve done some of it myself, Sir.
Trump: My whole life –
Wallace: I’m not doing it this time.
Trump: Don’t do it because –
Wallace: But how crushing would it be?
Trump: And you know why I won’t lose, because the country in the end, they’re not going to have a man who – who’s shot. He’s shot, he’s mentally shot. Let him come out of his basement, go around, I’ll make four or five speeches a day, I’ll be interviewed by you, I’ll be interviewed by the worst killers that hate my – my guts. They hate my guts. There’s nothing they can ask me that I won’t give them a proper answer to. Some people will like it, some people won’t like it.
Wallace: I agree with that.
Trump: But look –
Wallace: You answer the questions.
Trump: Let Biden sit through an interview like this, he’ll be on the ground crying for mommy. He’ll say mommy, mommy, please take me home.
Wallace: Well we’ve asked him for an interview, sir.
Trump: He can’t do an interview. He’s incompetent.
McClatchy’s Dave Catanese wrote of Biden’s team, “The communications shop, run by Kate Bedingfield, is guided by a focus on what matters to real voters — who like Biden, are older and more moderate — even as pundits cast doubts. Local TV interviews and nightly news broadcasts are prioritized over cable television and Twitter.” Bedingfield is the Deputy Campaign Manager and Communications Director for the Biden campaign.
In response to the news that Biden’s team said he was “not available,” CBS News White House reporter Kathryn Watson tweeted, “Trump sat down with interviewer extraordinaire Chris Wallace. Why can’t Biden do the same? Wallace is tough but fair. And obviously he’s not trying to spin things in favor of Trump, despite his network’s inclinations overall.”
https://twitter.com/kathrynw5/status/1287464617036230656
On July 21, CNN’s Caitlin Collins noted Biden’s reticence to take questions:
Joe Biden did not take questions after his remarks today, saying he would at another time but was going to another event.
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) July 21, 2020