Chris Wallace says he left Fox News after people at the news organization began to question matters of truth, like the Jan. 6 riot and whether the 2020 election was stolen.
“I just no longer felt comfortable with the programming at Fox," Wallace told The New York Times in an interview published Sunday.
Wallace, who announced his departure from Fox News in December, told The Times that life at his former network was "unsustainable."
“I’m fine with opinion: conservative opinion, liberal opinion,” Wallace told The Times. “But when people start to question the truth — Who won the 2020 election? Was Jan. 6 an insurrection? — I found that unsustainable.”
Wallace left Fox News to work for CNN’s new streaming platform, CNN+. His new show, "Who's Talking to Chris Wallace," begins Tuesday.
Wallace's new show is not just a place to talk politics. It features talks with people in a variety of industries, including former Disney head Bob Iger and "Star Trek's" William Shatner.
Wallace said he spent a lot of time looking for a new place to do his job after having become alarmed at the shift he said he felt at Fox News.
He told The Times that he was particularly worried by anchor Tucker Carlson's implication that the Jan. 6, 2021, riot was a "false flag" operation meant to turn opinions against conservative Americans.
“Some people might have drawn the line earlier, or at a different point,” Wallace told The Times.
He added: “I think Fox has changed over the course of the last year and a half. But I can certainly understand where somebody would say, ‘Gee, you were a slow learner, Chris.’”
Despite Fox News' conservative tilt, Wallace was often a moderate voice. His Fox News show, “Fox News Sunday,” offered substantive examination regardless of party affiliation.
He was commended for his moderation of a 2020 presidential debate between Joe Biden and President Donald Trump, when he frequently tried to rein in Trump’s numerous interruptions.
“I think the country would be better served if we allowed both people to speak with fewer interruptions,” Wallace told Trump. “I’m appealing to you, sir, to do that.”
Wallace told The Times he is ready to put Fox News behind him and that “there has not been a moment when I have second-guessed myself about that decision.”
