What to really expect from Chris Wallace in tonight’s debate

| 7:45 pm EDT September 29, 2020
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Chris Wallace seems to enjoy his reputation as the one “real” journalist on Fox News, which he’s earned by asking routinely tough questions and followups during his Sunday morning interviews. He’s earned high enough marks that both sides have signed off on him moderating tonight’s first 2020 presidential general election debate. But how’s he really going to fare?

Wallace has already said that he’s not going to act as fact checker tonight, and that he’s instead going to try to make himself as invisible as possible, instead letting the two candidates duke it out and correct each other. This sounds weak to say the least, but it could be that Wallace is simply setting expectations low for himself, so he can make sure he exceeds them.

That said, I have a feeling Wallace may come out on the losing end of it tonight. He’ll likely call out a bit of Donald Trump’s crap, just to maintain journalistic credibility, and in so doing he’ll enrage Trump’s fawning base. But Wallace will probably let most of Trump’s crap slide, and he’ll likely throw a few unfair questions at Joe Biden just to appear “balanced,” thus angering everyone else who’s watching.

If Chris Wallace takes this approach, he’ll come out of this debate worse for fear. When your goal is to keep both sides happy, usually you just end up making everyone unhappy. But if Wallace is looking to cement his reputation as the “one solid journalist” on Fox News, and he hits Trump hard tonight and gets him to crack on live national television, let’s just say that it would be a sight to see.