OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Fox News host Chris Wallace, regarded by many as one of the lone anti-Donald Trump voices at Fox News, is gone.
After 18 years on the network, Wallace announced on Sunday that he was leaving the network, he announced during his “Fox News Sunday” show.
“After 18 years — this is my final FOX News Sunday. It is the last time — and I say this with real sadness — we will meet like this,” the host said.
“Eighteen years ago, the bosses here at Fox promised me they would never interfere with a guest I booked or a question I asked. And they kept that promise. I have been free to report to the best of my ability, to cover the stories I think are important, to hold our country’s leaders to account. It’s been a great ride,” he said.
“We’ve covered five presidential elections, interviewed every president since George H.W. Bush, traveled the world — sitting down with France’s Emanuel Macron and Russia’s Vladimir Putin. And I’ve gotten to spend Sunday mornings with you. It may sound corny, but I feel we’ve built a community here,” the 74-year-old said.
“There’s a lot you can do on Sundays. The fact you’ve chosen to spend this hour with us is something I cherish. But after 18 years, I have decided to leave Fox. I want to try something new, to go beyond politics to all the things I’m interested in,” said the host, going on to suggest that he will be taking on new projects, though he did not elaborate,” he said.
“I’m ready for a new adventure. And I hope you’ll check it out. And so —for the last time, dear friends — that’s it for today. Have a great week. And I hope you’ll keep watching FOX News Sunday,” the host said.
In a press release of its own, Fox News addressed the departure.
“We are extremely proud of our journalism and the stellar team that Chris Wallace was a part of for 18 years. The legacy of FOX News Sunday will continue with our star journalists, many of whom will rotate in the position until a permanent host is named,” it said.
The news comes weeks after Wallace announced he was dealing with skin cancer.
During an interview with hosts Dax Shepard and Monica Padman on the Armchair Expert podcast, Wallace spoke about his battle with skin cancer.
“I had skin cancer. I had surgery on my nose. I had nose surgery…Please lather yourself with SPF, and wear a hat and take it seriously. I thought I had [taken it seriously], but I ended up with one right on the middle of my nose and I had to have surgery,” Wallace said.
“I have this thing I like to call ‘calm-down time,’ which is I have about half an hour to 45 minutes at the end of the day. My lovely wife Lorraine goes to sleep and I sit next to her, and I usually read a book. But I wasn’t feeling like reading [after surgery] so I discovered podcasts and I discovered Armchair Expert with you guys and I loved it.”
Last year, Wallace came under fire from just about everyone for how he moderated and handled the first presidential debate.
Wallace spoke out on his thoughts on the contentious debate between President Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
“I did what I could,” Wallace said, seemingly blaming Trump for the disastrous debate by suggesting the president kept interrupting Biden.
Wallace then seemed to blame Trump for the chaos and said: “The interruptions got in the way of a substantive discussion of serious issues and follow-ups to those issues. I thought it wasted a lot of time.”
“Obviously It was not the debate I had planned for, and to that degree I was disappointed,” Wallace added. “I think debates are about revealing what [the candidates] think. You certainly gained an insight into Donald Trump and what he’s thinking and where he wants to take the country and how he wants to take the country there. To that degree I thought it was a success. It may not have been pretty, but it was revealing.”
“Trump never went to Plan B,” Wallace said, further attacking Trump. “He just stayed on Plan A the entire evening, and I don’t think it served him especially well.”
