Media Matters founder David Brock is demanding that the Commission on Presidential Debates remove Fox News anchor Chris Wallace as moderator of the final presidential debate in October.
Brock, a staunch ally of Hillary Clinton who also founded pro-Clinton Super PACs Correct the Record and American Bridge 21st Century, argues that Wallace has a conflict of interest because of his relationship to former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes. Former Fox News Chairman and CEO Roger Ailes is reportedly informally advising Donald Trump and helping him prepare for the debates.
Ailes is also still technically advising 21st Century Fox executive co-chairman and acting Fox News CEO Rupert Murdoch through 2018, according to his separation agreement.
“It is a glaring conflict of interest that Roger Ailes, who resigned from Fox News in July, simultaneously provides advice to Donald Trump while serving as a paid adviser to Fox News chief Rupert Murdoch—debate moderator Chris Wallace’s boss,” Brock writes in the letter.
Several media watchers have noted that Ailes, who hired Wallace in 2003 to join Fox News, is likely intimately familiar with Wallace’s preparation and debate style, having been his boss for over a decade and having overseen Wallace’s preparation for the three primary debates Fox News hosted this year.
