Fox News host Chris Wallace on Tuesday broke down what he called a “very bad week” for President Donald Trump’s reelection prospects, following days of widespread criticism and plummeting approval ratings of Trump’s leadership during the nationwide unrest sparked by the police killing of George Floyd.
During an appearance on ABC’s “The View,” Wallace was asked by co-host Sunny Hostin to comment on the president’s tone as protests against racism and police brutality have erupted across the country.
“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 said. “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.”
Wallace noted criticisms Trump has faced over the past week from religious and military leaders over his divisive and inflammatory responses to the unrest, including his decision to deploy riot police on protesters in the capital, threats to militarize the government’s nationwide response and move to aggressively clear peaceful demonstrators near the White House so he could get photos taken with a Bible outside a nearby church.
“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,” Wallace said.
“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 added.
Numbers released by several national polls over the past week have indicated growing disapproval of Trump’s leadership, disagreement with his handling of the protests and a widening lead for Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
Wallace concluded: “So you can argue as to whether he’s right or wrong, but politically, I think it’s been a bad week.”