Chris Wallace says Trump family actually didn't get tested before debate

(Image credit: JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

published October 2, 2020

Fox News' Chris Wallace has suggested the Trump family put everyone at Tuesday's debate at risk of catching the coronavirus.

President Trump and first lady Melania Trump announced early Friday they both tested positive for COVID-19, just days after they appeared at the first presidential debate. Both viewers and participants in the debate were required to be tested for COVID-19 before coming in, but as Wallace described Friday on Fox News, the Trump family may have found a workaround.

While talking with Wallace, fellow host Bill Hemmer discussed a Friday statement from the Cleveland Clinic that said "the candidates themselves ... had been tested and tested negative by their respective campaigns." "They weren't tested by the clinic based on that statement, Chris, and to me, that sounds like an honor system," Hemmer said. "Well, they couldn't be tested by the clinic," Wallace responded, explaining how he and Hemmer had arrived early enough to be tested, but the Trump family "didn't show up until 3, 4, 5 in the afternoon" on the day of the debate. "Yeah, there was an honor system" when it came to the two campaigns' people, Wallace finished.