Fairly or not, Fox News has a reputation as the Republican network, Stephen Colbert told Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace on Tuesday's Late Show. "Do you think it is fair to call Fox News a conservative broadcasting network?" he asked. "No, look, there are obviously, in prime time, there are some shows, the opinion shows — Hannity, O'Reilly — that are conservative, no question about it," Wallace conceded. "But we think there's a firewall between the opinion shows and hard news ... We commit journalism every day."
Colbert, who poked fun at Fox News for years on Colbert Report, tried a different tack, asking if there isn't a "unified message" or narrative created by the network? "I know there's this narrative out there that there's talking point, and we all have to follow" them, Wallace said. "It's bull." In his 13 years as host of Fox News Sunday, he said, "our great boss, Roger Ailes, all the executives under them [sic], I've never had a single call second-guessing me about a guest, suggesting a line of questioning, second-guessing a line of questioning. They let me do what I do."
No news anchor wants to be accused of bias, so Wallace is probably sick of fielding that question. But he seemed happier when Colbert asked him to explain why he refused to let Donald Trump phone it in to his show. Watch below. Peter Weber
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
The 9 restaurants to eat at this very momentThe Week Recommends They’re award-winning. Isn’t that reason enough?
-
Trump proposes ending quarterly earnings reportsSpeed Read The SEC would have to approve any changes
-
White House joins GOP speech policing, citing KirkSpeed Read Yesterday’s developments ‘underscore the extraordinary amount of time and resources’ the White House has dedicated to advancing Kirk’s legacy
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talkSpeed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposesspeed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wifespeed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play
