(PresidentialInsider.com)- Chris Wallace, the former host of Fox News Sunday, shocked the media world when he stunningly announced this weekend that he was departing the network and joining CNN Plus, the new streaming service being launched by the liberal media network next year.
When signing off his program Sunday night, Wallace said he would be departing Fox News immediately. He’s been serving as an anchor for Fox News since back in 2003.
According to The Associated Press, Wallace “turned down an offer for a multiyear extension (from Fox News) and pay raise to leave for CNN.”
Further, The Washington Post reported that Wallace made this decision entirely on his own, and “it has left many of his colleagues shellshocked … The news was so closely held that even Wallace’s panelists on today’s show had no idea it was coming.”
Citing a person from Fox who said they were familiar with Wallace’s decision, The Post reported:
“Wallace is leaving Fox at a time when the network has been beset by internal conflicts, largely stemming from disputes over its balance between news and commentary — many within the company fearing the latter outweighs the former.”
Wallace had recently held onto being one of only two prominent hosts left on Fox News shows that were still focused on being “straight-news journalists.” Bret Baier is the other, while Shepard Smith left Fox News for CNBC back in 2019.
With Wallace’s departure, Baier will serve his role on Fox News Sunday along with other hosts who will rotate for now.
Part of the reason why Wallace may have decided to leave Fox News was his displeasure with some of the network’s other hosts. In November, Wallace and Baier both expressed their objections to anchor Tucker Carlson’s series called “Patriot Purge.”
They shared those opinions with Suzanne Scott, the CEO of Fox News Media, and Jay Wallace, the network’s president of news. Those opinions went all the way up to Fox Corp’s chairman and CEO, Lachlan Murdoch.
That didn’t stop the Carlson series from going forward, though, with continued claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. The entire ordeal actually led to two long-time commentators for Fox News resigning from their positions — Jonah Goldberg and Stephen Hayes.
Commenting on Carlson’s series and why he resigned from the network, Goldberg said:
“It’s basically saying that the Biden regime is coming after half the country and this is the War on Terror 2.0. It traffics in all manner of innuendo and conspiracy theories that I think legitimately could lead to violence. That for me, and for Steve, was the last straw.”
Fox News took the high road in announcing Wallace’s departure on Sunday, saying in a statement:
“We are extremely proud of our journalism and the stellar team that Chris Wallace was a part of for 18 years.”
But, whatever the makeup of the team that’s still left at Fox News, there’s no denying that Wallace leaving will have a big impact on the network’s product.
