Fox News host Chris Wallace, in a now-public email, called a question by Jake Tapper to Steven Mnuchin “fake news” after the CNN host spent the segment asking the Treasury secretary about the Mueller investigation instead of tax policy.
“Is this right?” Wallace asked Tony Sayegh, then-Treasury spokesman, about the 2017 segment with Tapper, according to an email obtained Wednesday by the Hollywood Reporter. “Was the first question Tapper asked the secretary about the special counsel?”
Sayegh responded, “That is correct.”
“As much as I hate the expression ‘fake news’ — this is a perfect example of it — especially on the week the country gets a massive overhaul of the tax code,” Wallace replied in the email chain where he also cc’d then-White House aide Hope Hicks.
In the Dec. 17 interview, Tapper told Mnuchin he would “get to taxes in one second” before asking about the Mueller investigation. The CNN host later asked the secretary about the president’s tax plan later in the interview.
Wallace, 71, ended up interviewing Mnuchin the same day and focused the discussion on tax policy. The Treasury spokesman said in an email to Wallace that Mnuchin “really enjoyed” the interview with the Fox News anchor.
A CNN representative responded to the claim by Wallace, saying it was a “cheap” shot meant to butter up the White House.
“Turns out Chris Wallace is no different than many of his peers at Fox News. It’s disappointing that he’d need to take cheap shots at another journalist to curry favor with this administration,” the representative said.
A Fox News representative defended Wallace’s interview, calling it a “tough and probing interview.”
