Chris Wallace Says Biden ‘Not Available’ for Interview
Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden has been dodging Chris Wallace’s interview requests, the Fox News host said Sunday.
Though Wallace interviewed President Trump last week, Biden’s team has said this week the former vice president is “not available” for an interview, feeding into criticism that he avoids press scrutiny.
“We’ll keep asking every week,” Wallace said.
“The fact is, the president is out there. He’s out there in this broiling heat with me for an hour, he took all the questions,” Wallace told colleague Bret Baier. “You can like his answers or dislike them, but he had answers and Joe Biden hasn’t faced that kind of scrutiny, hasn’t faced that kind of exposure.”
It has been nearly five months since Biden last sat down with Wallace for an interview two days before Super Tuesday.
CBS News White House reporter Kathryn Watson questioned why Biden is unwilling to submit to an interview with Wallace, saying “Trump sat down with interviewer extraordinaire Chris Wallace. Why can’t Biden do the same? Wallace is tough but fair.”
Biden currently holds a 9-point lead over the president in the RealClearPolitics average.
“The communications shop, run by Kate Bedingfield, is guided by a focus on what matters to real voters — who like Biden, are older and more moderate — even as pundits cast doubts,” wrote McClatchy’s Dave Catanese in an analysis of the campaign’s cautious communications tactics. “Local TV interviews and nightly news broadcasts are prioritized over cable television and Twitter.”
During his own interview with Wallace, Trump took jabs at his opponent, saying “Let Biden sit through an interview like this, he’ll be on the ground crying for mommy. He’ll say, ‘Mommy, mommy, please take me home.’”
Wallace was widely praised for his interview with the president, with many saying he fact-checked the president and pressed him to make several admissions, including that he wouldn’t commit to accepting the election results in November.
