While Fox News is one of the favorite targets of liberals who decry the pro-Trump bias of its opinion shows, network anchor Chris Wallace has been one of the most effective and consistent challengers of Trump administration members who appear on his Fox News Sunday show. This Sunday, Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney got an earful from Wallace regarding Trump’s recent attacks on Rep. Elijah Cummings, (D-MD), which many Democrats are characterizing as racist.
According to Mulvaney, Trump’s criticism of Cummings had nothing to do with race and was simply a response to an initial attack that came from Cummings that targeted the President.
“The president is attacking Mr. Cummings for saying things that are not true about the border,” Mulvaney told Wallace, adding that Trump’s remarks have “absolutely zero to do with race.”
Wallace made sure to bring up Trump’s recent attacks targeting “The Squad,” which consists of freshman progressive Democrats, who are all women of color.
“Two weeks ago, [Trump] goes after these four members of The Squad who are all women of color, and says they should go back to the ‘crime infested countries from which they come,'” Wallace said. “Then he talks about Elijah Cummings and says that his district is rat and rodent-infested.”
“Infested,” Wallace emphasized. “It sounds like ‘vermin.’ It sounds sub-human, and these are all six members of Congress who are people of color.”
“I think you’re spending way too much time reading between the lines…” Mulvaney countered.
“I’m not reading between the lines, I’m reading the lines,” Wallace shot back.
“Does anyone watching this program dispute the fact, or the possibility that if Adam Schiff had said the same thing about the border, that the President would be attacking Adam Schiff in the exact same way today?” Mulvaney argued.
“I don’t think he’d be talking about his ‘crime-infested, rodent infested’ district,” Wallace countered.
“He very well could,” Mulvaney said. “It has zero to do with the fact Adam is Jewish and everything to do with Adam — it would just be wrong if he were saying that. This is what the President does. He fights, and he’s not wrong to do so.”
“You’re completely comfortable with his saying that this is a rodent-infested district and no human being would want to live there?” Wallace asked. “You’re comfortable with that personally?”
“Have you seen some of the pictures on the internet?” Mulvaney said. “Just this morning, from the conditions in Baltimore, Maryland — have you seen them?”
“You could do that in any city in America,” Wallace said, staring directly at Mulvaney. “And you could argue, why doesn’t the President do something to stop it?”
Watch the exchange below:
Chris Wallace: "Infested. It sounds like vermin. It sounds subhuman and these are all six members of Congress who are people of color."
Mulvaney says he's "spending too much time reading between the lines."
Wallace: "I'm not reading between the lines. I'm reading the lines." pic.twitter.com/cnxzOjPE8X
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) July 28, 2019
Featured image via screen grab
