Chris Wallace, the longtime Washington journalist, announced his departure from Fox News Channel at the end of his weekly program Sunday, and will head to CNN’s upcoming streaming service.
Wallace, whose contract at Fox News ends this month, was considered the most evenhanded journalist at the conservative-leaning Fox News. An 18-year veteran of the channel, he was the anchor of its Sunday roundtable show “Fox News Sunday.”
“Eighteen years ago, the bosses here at Fox promised me they would never interfere with a guest I booked or a question I asked,” Wallace said on his program. “And they kept that promise. I have been free to report to the best of my ability, to cover the stories I think are important, to hold our country’s leaders to account. It’s been a great ride.”
Wallace has long said he was immune to the right-wing rhetoric of Fox News commentators and never publicly criticized the organization. There have been reports that he was among the journalists in the Washington bureau who expressed concerns about Tucker Carlson’s documentary series about the Jan. 6 insurrection, which pushed a conspiracy theory that suggested government involvement.
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Five things you may not know about debate moderator Chris Wallace
Chris Wallace was the first anchor from Fox News to moderate a presidential debate when Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump clashed for the final time Wednesday at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas.
Two Washington-based contributors, Jonah Goldberg and Stephen Hayes, quit Fox News over the Carlson programs, which streamed on Fox Nation.
But according to a Fox News representative, Wallace is leaving because he has the desire to try something new.
It is believed he will have a talk program on CNN+, the streaming service that will be launched by CNN early next year according to two people familiar with the plan. CNN has not announced any deal with Wallace.
Wallace, 74, is the son of legendary CBS News journalist Mike Wallace. He had stints at NBC News and ABC News before joining Fox News in 2003.
Wallace was known as the Fox News journalist who would push back hard against conservative guests who came in with an expectation of friendly treatment, often generating viral moments on social media.