Fox News anchor Chris Wallace called out “astonishing” and “deeply misleading” spin from President Donald Trump’s defenders over the whistleblower complaint on his contacts with Ukraine.

On America’s Newsroom, Fox News anchor Sandra Smith asked Wallace on Friday: “Your thoughts as we wrap the week — did it change anything?”

“I think it’s changed quite a lot, Sandra,” Wallace replied, before calling out the president’s supporters: “The spinning that has been done by the president’s defenders in the last 24 hours since this very damaging whistleblower complaint came out — the spinning is not surprising, but I think it is astonishing and deeply misleading.”

Wallace explained that the whistleblower’s complaint lined up exactly with the transcript of the call between Trump and Ukraine’s president — and the whistleblower’s other claims also turned out to be true.

The Fox News anchor then responded to criticism of the whistleblower — who has been labelled a “spy” by Trump and a “rotten snitch” by some on Wallace’s own network — pointing out Trump’s acting director of national intelligence said the whistleblower did the right thing.

Smith countered that there are “major inconsistencies” between the complaint and the call transcript, and claimed there was “no quid pro quo” in the latter.

As Wallace began to answer, Smith cut him off to claim no military funds were discussed on the call. “You asked a question, let me answer it, Sandra,” Wallace shot back.

“You don’t think dirt on the vice president and his son’s activities would be of value to a president seeking reelection?” Wallace asked.

Smith argued that the allegation in the complaint — that Trump was threatening to withhold military funds unless Biden was investigated — was absent from the call.

A quick note here: Many have argued — from the Washington Post editorial board to conservative National Review writer David French — that the call is clearly a quid pro quo. What’s more, the complaint alleges that Trump’s coercion of Ukraine was not limited to the call, and consisted in repeated actions over time.

“What is clear from reading the complaint is that it is a serious allegation,” Wallace said. “A lot of it has proven to be borne out already. The whistleblower lays out a blueprint for talking to various officials in the White House, various officials in the State Department. And to dismiss this as a political hack, seems to me to be an effort by the president’s defenders to make nothing out of something. And there is something here.”

“For all of the efforts of a lot of people defending the president to defend this as nothing,” he added. “This isn’t nothing. This is something.”

Wallace concluded by condemning Trump’s attacks on the whistleblower and the sources that gave the official their information, calling the comments “very, deeply troubling.”

It’s not clear who Wallace is talking about when he refers to “the president’s defenders” in this segment. It’s unlikely he’s referring to pundits at his own network, as his comments appear focused on Trump’s political allies. But it’s worth noting that Fox News opinion hosts on primetime are all-in on defending the president against the whistleblower, while shrugging at any allegations Trump abused his power.

Watch above, via Fox News.

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