Ainsley Earhardt defends Chris Wallace after Ted Cruz slam: ‘We love him’

“Fox & Friends” co-host Ainsley Earhardt defended colleague Chris Wallace during an interview with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Thursday after he said the “Fox News Sunday” anchor did a “terrible job” during the first presidential debate last week.

The back-and-forth comes after Cruz defended President Trump’s decision to reject the Commission on Presidential Debate’s move to shift the second scheduled debate with Democratic nominee Joe Biden to a virtual format in the wake of Trump’s coronavirus diagnosis.

“Look, I think the president’s right on this. And unfortunately, I think this is a pattern we’ve seen play out throughout the debates where the moderators and the debate commission have behaved like arms of the Joe Biden campaign,” Cruz argued. 

“I think at the first debate, I think Chris Wallace did a terrible job moderating. Last night, I think Susan Page did a better job moderating. She didn’t interrupt as much,” he added.  

“Well, just to defend Chris Wallace, he’s part of our family and it’s not easy … to moderate a debate,” Earhardt later said. “And I’ve watched other moderators say sometimes when you’re up there on stage — all the time when you’re up there on stage and you’re in charge of asking the questions, you see something different than what the audience is seeing at home. And it’s a difficult situation.”

“I thought Chris did a fine job. And he’s one of our friends and he’s part of our family, Ted Cruz,” she added. 

“I understand,” Cruz responded. 

“All right, I just wanted to clarify that because we love him,” Earhardt concluded. 

Wallace came under fire from Trump and some conservative media members following the first debate for what they described as serving as a second opponent for the president. 

Chris had a tough night. Two on one was not surprising, but fun. 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! https://t.co/BGbPVHau3M

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2020

Facts:

Chris Wallace interrupted Donald Trump 76 times last night.

He only interrupted Joe Biden 15 times.

Trump shouldn’t have to debate two opponents at once, but he did—and he STILL won.

— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) September 30, 2020

Wallace has defended his performance, saying the president “bears the primary responsibility for what happened” during a chaotic event marred by insults and interruptions. 

“I had baked this beautiful, delicious cake and then frankly the president put his foot in it,” Wallace told The New York Times on Oct. 1.