Donald Trump has claimed the first presidential debate next week will be «unfair.» Mr Trump said in a radio interview that veteran moderator Chris Wallace was “controlled by the radical left” and would not ask Joe Biden tough questions.
“Chris is good, but I would be willing to bet that he won’t ask Biden tough questions,” the president told Brian Kilmeade on Fox News Radio.
“He will ask tough questions of me and it will be unfair, I have no doubt about it. He will be controlled by the radical left.”
Trump insisted he had “a lot of respect” for Wallace and a good relationship with his father, Mike Wallace.
Mr Kilmeade was quick to push back against Mr Trump’s accusations about his Fox News colleague.
“Mr President, I will tell you for sure, he is not controlled by anyone,” said Mr Kilmeade.
“We’ll see. Then he’s got to ask tough questions of Biden,” Trump said.
Mr Wallace will moderate the first presidential debate in Cleveland, Ohio, on Tuesday.
Both candidates will be asked questions on their records, the coronavirus, the Supreme Court, the economy, race and violence in US cities, and election integrity.
Trump appeared to try and lower expectations of his performance, insisting that Mr Biden had a significant advantage.
“No, I think I am the one without experience. I have just been doing this for a few years. He has been doing this for 47 years plus,” said Mr Trump.
“I mean, he has a tremendous advantageous really, if you think about it, but I have a much better record than he does.”
White House press secretary will not give ‘exact timeline’ on when Trump knew he was at risk of covid
have come into contact with during a busy week of travel that included the first presidential debate in Cleveland, a rally in Minnesota, and a fundraiser in New Jersey.
But White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, in an interview on Friday with Fox News’ Harris Faulkner, did not want to get into too many specifics.
“I’m not going to get into an exact timeline, but it’s safe to say the president took precautions,” said Ms McEnany, when asked when Mr Trump learned Hope Hicks, a close adviser, had first tested positive.
The president and first lady have both quarantined following their positive tests.
Faulkner pressed Ms McEnany for more specifics as the conversation continued.
“Some concern today is that Hope Hicks had traveled to Cleveland, Ohio — and we don’t know if that’s where the original spread happened — but we say that because the president was with her, was closely with her and the First Lady, and in terms of notifying staff and journalists, people on the ground at that next event in Minnesota, they would have traveled together after she was known to have tested positive,” Faulkner said.
Ms McEnany responded she was “unaware of what was going on on Air Force One” but that contact tracing and necessary health procedures are being undertaken to assess the risk of the virus. Large portions of the senior Trump administration leadership traveled with Hicks in recent days, according to a list compiled by MSNBC.
During Tuesday night’s debate, the president mocked former vice president Joe Biden for regularly wearing a mask.
Mr Biden announced he tested negative for coronavirus following the Trump diagnosis.
