Veteran television journalist Chris Wallace announced that he is leaving Fox News after 18 years and is set to join rival CNN’s upcoming streaming service as an anchor. Wallace was a veteran broadcast network newsman, working at both ABC and NBC News, before the late Roger Ailes lured him to Fox with the promise of his own Sunday show.
“It is the last time, and I say this with real sadness, we will meet like this,” Wallace, who is 74, said on his show, which airs on the Fox network and is later rerun on Fox News Channel. “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.”
Wallace was the first Fox News personality to moderate a presidential debate, doing it in 2016 and 2020. The debate he moderated last year went off the rails when then-President Donald Trump repeatedly interrupted Democratic challenger Joe Biden.
Until a successor is named, Fox said Wallace will be replaced by a rotating series of guest anchors, including Bret Baier, John Roberts, Shannon Bream, Martha MacCallum, Jennifer Griffin, Neil Cavuto, Dana Perino and Bill Hemmer.
Wallace said he wanted to “try something new, to go beyond politics to all the things I’m interested in.” CNN said more details about Wallace’s new role will be forthcoming.
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