From The Gateway Pundit: Fox News Channel hosts Shepard Smith and Chris Wallace engaged in a fiery debate on Smith’s show Friday afternoon after Smith blamed the rhetoric of President Donald Trump for the mail bombs targeting Democrats and CNN allegedly sent by Trump supporter Cesar Sayoc, who was arrested earlier Friday.
Smith opened the segment with Wallace, who was on to promote his Fox News Sunday show, by saying:
“Chris, you just can’t ignore the politics of all this even if you wanted to. These are people the President has gone after rhetorically. These are people this guy targeted. He’s a big supporter. It goes to the tone and tenor of the political discourse and the words that the President uses at his rallies and all the rest”
Mediaite had more: “Fox News’ Shepard Smith and Chris Wallace got into a heated clash this afternoon over heated political rhetoric in the context of the bombs sent this week by a deranged man who, based on the stickers on his van and his social media posts, was a big Trump supporter.
Wallace said earlier today that it’s ridiculous to try and blame President Donald Trump or any political figure for the bombs when it’s the bomber who was solely to blame.
Smith, however, argued, “You just can’t ignore the politics of all this even if you wanted to.” He noted the suspect targeted people who have been targets of Trump’s rhetoric.
Wallace said you can’t draw a link to Trump on this, noting the Bernie Sanders supporter who shot Republicans at a congressional baseball practice last year.
He called the suspect a “twisted person” and said millions of other people aren’t taking the President’s rhetoric to then go and do this. Smith shot back that the rhetoric clearly isn’t helpful when you consider that crazy people might get “empowered.”
“What difference does it make, Shep?” Wallace asked. “It’s a twisted individual and to hold President Trump responsible––”
“I didn’t hold President Trump responsible, Chris,” Smith fired back. “Come on now.”
“That’s the clear implication,” Wallace said.
“Let’s be fair, Chris,” Smith said. “The rhetoric from the podium, the ‘CNN sucks’ chants, the ‘lock her up’ chants, it doesn’t bring unity.