Longtime anchor Chris Wallace announced Sunday that he is leaving Fox News to join CNN's new streaming spin-off CNN+ where he will host a weekday show, CNN and Fox News reported.
"After 18 years, this is my final Fox News Sunday," Wallace said on air. "It is the last time — and I say this with real sadness — we will meet like this."
Wallace did not suggest that his departure is the result of any animosity toward Fox, but NPR reported last month that Wallace had voiced opposition to Fox's decision to air Tucker Carlson's controversial special on the Jan. 6 incident.
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Wallace decided to forego Yale Law School to work for The Boston Globe and went on to stints at NBC News and ABC News before joining Fox in 2003. He has been an anchor, host, or moderator on NBC Nightly News, Meet the Press, Primetime Live, Nightline, and Fox News Sunday.
During a 2019 event at the Newseum, Wallace listed a few of the moments in his 50-year career he regards as highlights: "I spent a week in Calcutta after [Mother Teresa] won the Nobel Peace Prize. I covered President Reagan for six years, going with him to China and the Korean DMZ. Last year, I interviewed Vladimir Putin in Helsinki after the summit, and I asked, 'Why do so many of the people that oppose you end up dead?' and I lived to tell the tale."
Consumers of news with shorter memories will remember Wallace as the moderator of the first presidential debate of the 2020 election, during which Wallace, alternately stern and plaintive, tried desperately to curtail then-President Trump's incessant interruptions.
Wallace said he is "thrilled" about his new position at CNN+. "After decades in broadcast and cable news, I am excited to explore the world of streaming," he said. "I look forward to the new freedom and flexibility streaming affords in interviewing major figures across the news landscape — and finding new ways to tell stories."
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