- Chris Wallace said he was “pissed off” upon learning that multiple guests of President Donald Trump’s had avoided wearing a mask while seated in the auditorium.
- Several members of the Trump family had removed their masks upon sitting down for the first presidential debate in September.
- “I was upset when it turned out I’d been on the stage in a uniquely vulnerable position,” Chris Wallace told the Washington Post.
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Chris Wallace, who moderated the first presidential debate at the end of September, said he was “pissed off” when he had heard that the Trump family did not wear masks at the event.
President Donald Trump’s kids were sitting behind Wallace without wearing masks throughout the entire debate. They had walked into the auditorium with masks on but removed them upon sitting down in the front row. First lady Melania Trump also wore a mask upon entering and had removed it while sitting down.
“After I had the luxury to think about it, I was pissed off,” Wallace said in conversation with the Washington Post. “I mean, did they think that the rules that applied to everybody else didn’t apply to them?”
“I was upset when it turned out I’d been on the stage in a uniquely vulnerable position, and we found out 48 hours after the fact that the president had tested positive for the coronavirus,” he continued in the Post interview.
Trump faced off against Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden at the debate, held in Cleveland, Ohio on September 29. Neither candidate wore a mask while on stage. Wallace, who was sitting down in front of the two men, also did not wear a mask. But the candidates were separated by a distance of about 12 feet.
Audience members were also required to adhere to social distancing guidelines. Seats were spread out and attendees were required to wear masks. By removing their masks, members of the Trump family violated debate rules.
Mask-wearing is one of the measures recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to curtail the spread of the coronavirus.
Trump and the first lady announced they tested positive for the coronavirus just days after the debate. Shortly after the announcement, Trump had been transferred to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, located just outside of Washington, D.C.
A slew of White House staffers and people within Trump’s orbit also announced they tested positive for the disease. Among the figures close to Trump who tested positive were two Republican senators, adviser Hope Hicks, and adviser Kellyanne Conway, among others.
The coronavirus has infected more than 9.1 million people in the United States, according to the latest data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Of that, more than 230,000 people have died from the disease.
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