Fox News Sunday’s Chris Wallace fact-checked Trump, pushed back, and caused a presidential implosion on national television by not accepting the lies.
The part of the interview that will be getting attention for days was Wallace’s exchange with Trump about the cognitive test that the President took:WALLACE: But I’ve got to tell you, if I may, sir, respectfully, in the Fox poll, they asked people, who is more competent? Who’s got — whose mind is sounder? Biden beats you in that.
TRUMP: Well, I’ll tell you what, let’s take a test. Let’s take a test right now. Let’s go down, Joe and I will take a test. Let him take the same test that I took.
WALLACE: Incidentally, I took the test too when I heard that you passed it.
TRUMP: Yeah, how did you do?
WALLACE: It’s not – well it’s not that hardest test. They have a picture and it says “what’s that” and it’s an elephant.
TRUMP: No no no…
TRUMP: You see, that’s all misrepresentation.
WALLACE: Well, that’s what it was on the web.
TRUMP: It’s all misrepresentation. Because, yes, the first few questions are easy, but I’ll bet you couldn’t even answer the last five questions. I’ll bet you couldn’t, they get very hard, the last five questions.
WALLACE: Well, one of them was count back from 100 by seven.
TRUMP: Let me tell you…
WALLACE: Ninety-three.
TRUMP: … you couldn’t answer — you couldn’t answer many of the questions.
WALLACE: Ok, what’s the question?
TRUMP: I’ll get you the test, I’d like to give it. I’ll guarantee you that Joe Biden could not answer those questions
Video:
Trump boils over when Chris Wallace points out that the dementia screening test that he “aced” was not hard. pic.twitter.com/imM5ns7vIe
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) July 19, 2020
The interview was a trainwreck for Trump because Wallace didn’t let him skate by unchallenged with lies. Trump was called out for lying about Biden defunding the police. Trump admitted that he doesn’t care about the military. Trump got called out for pushing false coronavirus mortality rates. There was no segment of the interview that wasn’t a disaster for Trump and his campaign.
Chris Wallace did was every journalist should do with Trump. Wallace shrugged off the bluster and intimidation tactics and kept pushing forward with facts.
The main reason why the interview was a nightmare for Republicans is that it painted a portrait of a president whose mind is clearly in decline.
Wallace would give Trump an easy interview, and Donald Trump responded with an epic implosion.
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Mr. Easley is the founder/managing editor and Senior White House and Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association