Trump continues jabbing at moderator Wallace in debate's wake
President Donald Trump complained Wednesday morning that moderator Chris Wallace "had a rough night" at Tuesday's debate, lashing out at the veteran Fox News journalist who struggled to contain the president's efforts to control the on-stage discussion.
“Two on one was not surprising, but fun,” Trump wrote on Twitter Wednesday morning, apparently accusing Wallace of siding with Biden during the debate. The president's post was accompanied by a link to a New York Times story focusing on Wallace’s struggles to keep things orderly.
Wallace, a longtime Fox News host and one of its most respected news-division journalists, faced a fusillade of criticism for his handling of the debate, though some noted the difficulty of his task.
Trump lashed out at Wallace more than once — both during the debate and shortly thereafter — after the moderator admonished the president and tried to stop him from interrupting Biden on multiple occasions. Trump’s Twitter account retweeted multiple anti-Wallace posts and shared a photo that portrayed Trump in a 2-on-1 battle against Biden and the moderator.
Trump's broadsides against Wallace come as the president faces intense blowback for his failure to denounce hate groups like the Proud Boys despite a direct opportunity to do so, forcing the president's allies to try to tamp down that furor Wednesday.
In multiple Twitter posts Wednesday morning, Trump also tried to gin up dissatisfaction within the Democratic party’s left wing, where enthusiasm for the centrist Biden is sometimes lacking.
“Many important points made, like throwing Bernie, AOC PLUS 3, and the rest, to the wolves! Radical Left is dumping Sleepy Joe. Zero Democrat enthusiasm, WEAK Leadership!”
“Nobody wants Sleepy Joe as a leader, including the Radical Left (which he lost last night!). He disrespected Bernie, effectively calling him a loser!” Trump wrote in a post about 15 minutes later.
Biden did not disparage Sanders during the debate, though he did forcefully rebuff Trump’s repeated attempts to label the former vice president a socialist, exclaiming “I am the Democratic Party right now” at one point.
Sanders has lined up in support of Biden since his defeat in the Democratic primary, and the Vermont senator laughed off Trump's attempts to fracture the party.
"I know that Donald Trump loves me, and I know that Donald Trump supports everything that I believe in, and that's why he would send out that tweet out of compassion and concern for me," Sanders said sarcastically on "The View."
Sanders acknowledged that Biden does not support the same policies on health care and other major issues that he does, and Trump is wrong to imply that Biden is a socialist — or a figurehead for them, as the president has also asserted.
"So what Trump said was, of course, a lie," he said. "I wish it were true, but it is not true."
