Chris Wallace, in an appearance on “The View” on Tuesday, said President Trump had “a very bad week” responding to the protests over the police killing of George Floyd.
Wallace was responding to a question from “The View” co-host Sunny Hostin about events over the past week, including controversial comments from New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees in which the player said he would “never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America.”
Brees later apologized for his comments after stirring an outcry, leading Trump to tweet the NFL star should not have done so.
“Trump is positioning himself as a law and order president, but these movements that we are seeing in the streets are protesting law enforcement as we know it. He is also reigniting the fight now over taking a knee in silent protest during the national anthem. Is this, in your view, the right tone for the president to be taking in this moment?” Hostin asked.
“Well, I’m not going to talk about it in terms of right or wrong. The president has his base and he has his beliefs, and he’s entitled to them,” Wallace replied. “Let me talk about it in terms of politics. I would say that the last week was a very bad week for the president in terms of politics, in terms of his potential reelection prospects.”
“When you’re getting called out by the Episcopal bishop of Washington and the archbishop of the Catholic Church of Washington, when you’re getting called out by everybody from [former Secretary of Defense] Jim Mattis to former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Mike Mullen, and even your own current Secretary of Defense Mark Esper breaks with you, that’s not a good week.”
Mattis was highly critical of Trump regarding his handling of nationwide protests in a statement to The Atlantic published last week.
Wallace noted a recent jobs report showing a stunning 2.5 million jobs added in May wasn’t enough to deflect from his handling of the protests.
“He had some good news on the economy, but clearly, and you see there’s a new poll in The Washington Post today that indicates by an almost 2 to 1 margin people don’t think the president has handled the last week properly, and his approval ratings and his standing in the polls has dropped,” Wallace said. “So you can argue as to whether he’s right or wrong, but in politically, I think it’s been a bad week.”
Recent polls have showed former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, widening his lead over Trump amid criticism of the president’s response over Floyd’s killing and the coronavirus outbreak hitting the country.