Fox News Sunday Host Chris Wallace Tussles With The I-Man (For a Change)

Chris Wallace waited patiently this morning until Imus, who was busy extolling the virtues of his glorious bosses, realized Wallace was on the line. But Imus is rarely as concerned with his guests as he is with himself, which was evident in the previous interview he conducted this morning with Rep. Darrell Issa, the Ranking Member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

“I asked him this morning, ‘Did your complicated, extensive financial ties to Toyota prevent you from adopting a more aggressive line of questioning?’” Imus boasted, then admitted, “I didn’t listen to what he said, because that wasn’t the point of the question. The point of the question was to trick him.”

He then criticized Wallace’s interview techniques on “Fox News Sunday,” where last week Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to attack legislative reconciliation.

“He repeatedly supported the use of reconciliation in the past!” Imus howled, though it remains unclear whether he knows what reconciliation is, or was just looking to needle Wallace. “I watched you let him off the hook. I watched you roll over like fat seal.”

Defending himself (as he is prone to do on this show), Wallace said he had told McConnell that other Presidents, including George W. Bush, had used reconciliation repeatedly. Wallace had also pointed out other instances of McConnell’s hypocrisy, like when he excoriated the stimulus package while supporting stimulus money for projects in his home state of Kentucky.

“You’re missing the point,” Wallace told the I-Man. It wouldn’t be the first time.

In calling the Democrats arrogant, McConnell had been referring to their continued push for health care reform in the face of overwhelming public disapproval evidenced not only in the polls, but in Republican Senator Scott Brown’s surprise victory in Massachusetts.

“I don’t need my distinguished colleague and friend from Fox News to point out what I don’t understand,” said Imus. “Here’s what I do understand: you’re a jerk.”

Maybe, but he’s a smart jerk, observing that Obama’s inability to pass a health care bill with majorities in both the House and the Senate could be a sign of incompetence.

“Then they came out this year and said, ‘We are changing our focus, it’s going to be all about jobs, all about the economy, Democrats in Congress have been clamoring for that,’” said Wallace. “And what are we going to be talking about all today and all this weekend? Health care again.”

Relenting, Imus said, “I think you’re right.”

At which point Wallace promptly changed his position.

-Julie Kanfer