Fox News’s Chris Wallace said he was “horrified” over the way Jim Acosta responded to President Trump at a news conference in India on Tuesday, saying the CNN chief White House correspondent’s behavior “adds to the people questioning the credibility of the media.”
“It’s not our job to get in fights with presidents. It’s not our job to one-up presidents. It’s our job to report on presidents,” Wallace said during a Columbia University event Tuesday night.
“But to the degree we have responded to his attacks on us with attacks or advocacy in kind, there’s a huge mistake, and I think adds to people questioning the credibility of the media," he added.
Trump and Acosta engaged in a tense exchange over the issue of truthfulness.
After Trump noted CNN had to apologize for a report that turned out to be false, Acosta said “our record on delivering the truth is a lot better than yours sometimes if you don’t mind me saying."
“Let me tell you about your record, your record is so bad you ought to be ashamed of yourself,” Trump fired back. “You probably have the worst record in the history of broadcasting.”
“I’m not ashamed of anything and our organization is not ashamed,” Acosta replied.
Wallace said he is concerned Trump’s attacks on the press have made reporters feel they have “an excuse or license to cross the line themselves and become players on the field.
“I think that is a huge mistake," Wallace said. "It’s not our role. Our role is to be observers, umpires, fact-checkers, investigators — it’s not to be advocates. It’s not to be opponents."
