Former Fox News Sunday anchor Chris Wallace shocked viewers in December after abruptly announcing his departure from the right-leaning network, only later to reveal that he had secured a contract at CNN to help build its new CNN+ streaming service.
According to Breitbart, in a recent interview with The New York Times, Wallace, after staying quiet for several months, finally revealed why he chose to leave one of the most coveted anchor gigs in the entirety of cable news, citing an “unsustainable” workplace due to others at the network questioning the results of the 2020 election and the Jan. 6 situation.
The veteran newsman, who went from one of the highest-rated Sunday shows to one of the lowest-rated networks in existence, added that he “just no longer felt comfortable with the programming.”
His departure wasn’t met with tears, either, as Fox News viewers celebrated his exit upon his announcing it last year.
Wallace opens up
The former Fox News host held nothing back as he took shots at Fox News and, indirectly, a number of popular hosts on the network who have called into question the events that took place on Jan. 6 at the U.S. Capitol.
“I’m fine with opinion: conservative opinion, liberal opinion,” Wallace said.
He added: “But when people start to question the truth — Who won the 2020 election? Was Jan. 6 an insurrection? — I found that unsustainable.”
“Before, I found it was an environment in which I could do my job and feel good about my involvement at Fox,” Wallace continued. “And since November of 2020, that just became unsustainable, increasingly unsustainable as time went on.”
“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,’” he said, referencing a number of people who quietly suggested he leave sooner than he did.
Getting away from politics
Wallace continued by admitting that he was growing tired of covering politics in general, adding that his first few interviews were with non-politicians.
“I wanted to get out of politics,” Wallace told the Times. “Doing a Sunday show on the incremental change from week to week in the Build Back Better plan began to lose its attraction.”
Like him or not, Wallace was in the best possible position in his career, at the top of his game. Now, his career will likely die a slow, painful death, as his move to CNN+ was like going from the big leagues to the high school field, at best.