Cowardly Complicit: How Chris Wallace Elevated Fox News Through Token Moderateness

On Sunday morning, Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace shocked his audience by announcing that this would be his last show and that he would be leaving for a new CNN steaming service beginning in 2022. Wallace announced the news during the final segment of his program:

After 18 years, this is my final FOX NEWS SUNDAY. It is the last time, and I say this with real sadness, we will meet like this. Eighteen years ago the bosses here at Fox promised me they would never interfere with a guest I booked or a question I asked, and they kept that promise. I have been free to report to the best of my ability to cover those stories I think are important, to hold our country's leaders to account. It's been a great ride. We've covered five presidential elections, interviewed every president since George H.W. Bush, traveled the world sitting down with France's Emmanuel Macron and Russia's Vladimir Putin.

And I've gotten to spend Sunday mornings with you. It may sound corny, but I feel we built a community here. There's a lot you can do one Sunday mornings. The fact you've chosen to spend this hour with us is something I cherish.

But after 18 years, I have decided to leave Fox. I want to try something new, to go beyond politics to all the things I'm interested in. I'm ready for a new adventure. And I hope you'll check it out.

And so, for the last time, dear friends, that's it for today. Have a great week and I hope you'll keep watching FOX NEWS SUNDAY.

And just like that in the flash of a pan, a seventeen-year stint was over.

Almost immediately after Wallace's announcement came many lamentations from the political world. Peers and contemporaries of Wallace shared their admiration for a man they believed to be a shining light in an otherwise dank, dark place that was Fox News. Wallace was seen by many as being a lone wolf, someone willing to defy Fox News brass and "tell it like it is." He was the only Fox News journalist to openly criticize Donald Trump's actions on January 6th. He challenged Kevin McCarthy's recollection of the day's events during an April interview. Within the last few months, he had become public critical of both Nebraska Governor Pete Rickett's views and Texas Governor Greg Abbott's hypocritical stance on vaccines when he hosted them on his Sunday morning program. Wallace appeared to be the only sane voice at an otherwise insane news network.

But while Wallace was public in his defiance against the company line, let us not lose sight of the actual role the played: a token. For 17 years Wallace was the token moderate at a network that veered further and further to the right. He was given free reign to speak his mind solely to create the narrative that Fox News was much more moderate than it actually was. Time and time again, he was used as a foil to the extremist views of fellow Fox News hosts Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity. No matter how extreme its programming became, Fox News could always point to Wallace as a voice of reason. For every radical, extreme, conspiratorial comment from Tucker Carlson, Fox News simply pointed to a recent episode where Wallace had challenged a Republican congressman on his Sunday show. That's all they needed to proclaim that their "fair and balanced" motto was still in effect. A little bit of Chris Wallace went a long way for the company brass.

And Wallace himself took no issue with the role. Not once did he criticize his own network. He willingly refused to bite the hand that fed him. Why should he? Wallace's role as the token moderate helped elevate his career. He twice hosted presidential debates as Fox News' voice of reason, including 2020's first presidential debate where Donald Trump went off the rails. Wallace was given that opportunity knowing that the Democratic nominee would not approve of anyone else from the network and that his moderateness was needed to reach the potential Never Trump voters. He was the only Fox News host who had any sort of journalistic integrity so it was a natural role for him to fill. Even after what many people saw as a lackluster performance as moderator, Wallace still maintained his reputation for being a fair and just journalist at an organization that was becoming more and more extreme in its views.

This was something that Wallace willingly went along with. All of it. Even while Carlson, Hannity, and the Fox and Friends crew continued to undermine public health and safety, Wallace sat idly by, content to host his weekly Sunday morning hour-long show. Having a $7 million annual gig will do that to a person. It will cause them to toe the company line, even during times of extreme and dangerous messaging. When he was presented with a question about his colleagues' perverted ethics, Wallace refused to condemn them. This is something that we've time and time again during the Trump presidency. From Michael Wolff to Bob Woodward to Jonathan Karl, those closest to power seem completely willing to turn a blind eye to corruption if it can help them advance their own careers. Now that we know Wallace will be continuing on at CNN, we have yet another example of someone benefitting from personal silence in order to score a big pay day. There is nothing more profitable in the age of Donald Trump than being complicit, watching the world burn simply to score a book deal or TV gig down the road. 

Chris Wallace has done just that. For 17 years, he stayed silent while his network drifted more and more toward becoming a fascist, state-run media apparatus. He stayed in his lane and his lane was to be the straight and narrow journalist. To be the one actually giving pushback to Republican politicians and their lies. To question Dear Leader Trump and the decisions his administration was making. It was a role he took willingly and it was a role that for him was extremely profitable, both personally and professionally. With today's announcement, it has become clear that Wallace's reputation as a straight shooter will continue in tact as he begins the newest chapter in his life. CNN's Jeff Zucker shared his excitement calling Wallace's appointment as "one that speaks volume about our commitment to journalism." For a network in the midst of multiple sexual assault allegations, the hiring of Wallace could not take place at a better time as they are in desperate need of credible journalists to take the heat of their recent PR nightmares. 

But while CNN may be giddy about its new hire, the big takeaway for the rest of us must be this: Chris Wallace is no hero. He was a willing pawn in the Fox News game for 17 years. He sold his soul and his journalistic integrity long ago to play a role. All the world's a stage and for Wallace, his world and his stage was the Fox News Sunday morning audience and his role was that of the token moderate journalist at a network full of racists, xenophobes, misogynists, and fascists. His complicity gave Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity the green light to be themselves. Sure what Tucker said was awful but did you see Wallace go after Trump? Fox News isn't as bad as people think! For 17 years Chris Wallace was the ONE person people pointed to when asked to prove that Fox News wasn't as biased as people claimed. His moderateness made it possible for Carlson and Hannity to become more and more extreme in their views and in their nightly programming and for the network as a whole to jump the shark and become overtly fascist without skipping a beat. 

This is Chris Wallace's true legacy. One of complicity and selling his soul. Of embracing his reputation as the token moderate at a far-right news network. Wallace may be momentarily rewarded with a new contract at CNN. But deep down inside, he knows he has sold out. And for what? To grant permission for Fox News to continue its extreme programming? To give cover for Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity? What would his late father, journalist Mike Wallace, think of what his son has become? 

Only Chris Wallace knows the answer to those questions. But in the age of failed media, Wallace ranks right up there for his role of elevating Fox News. History will not be kind to him and his ilk, nor should it be. Because Chris Wallace chose to be at Fox News. He chose to take on the token role of moderate journalist. He chose to turn a blind eye to his coworkers Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity. And he chose to be a complicit foil to each and every person who saw how dangerous Fox News had become. At the end of the day, Chris Wallace helped legitimize a news network that was in no way legitimate. He did that to elevate himself and his own brand and he willingly sold out to do so. He may be leaving Fox News, but the damage Chris Wallace has done to legitimate journalism is immeasurable. For 17 years he willingly stood by and watched his officemates completely destroy the American political media landscape and he said and did absolutely nothing to stop them. He could have, but he chose to do nothing.

A choice based on cowardice rather than conviction.