There he goes again.
First, he apologized for asking Michele Bachmann if she was a “flake” — then he was scolded during a GOP debate by Newt Gingrich for asking “gotcha” questions. Now, some conservative leaders aren’t happy with Chris Wallace’s line of questioning to former Sen. Rick Santorum.
During a “Fox News Sunday” interview this week, Wallace asked Santorum to comment on a 1940’s-era quote by E.R. Householder — a military Colonel who opposed racial integration in the military. But Wallace didn’t reveal the source of the quote until after soliciting a response (Santorum was presumably led to believe they were still discussing the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy).
This led some conservatives to cry foul.
“That was one of the most unfair ‘gotcha’ questions I’ve ever seen,” said Elaine Donnelly, the president of the conservative Center for Military Readiness.
After Santorum responded, saying that, “It’s a very different thing, a behavior versus an act,” Wallace answered:
Senator, I read Colonel Householder’s comments yesterday. Everything that you said, living in close proximity, sharing bunks and showers, being in close proximity. He used exactly the same arguments you use to argue against racial integration of the military in the 1940s.
This, too, drew condemnation from some observers. “Racial discrimination was and is irrational,” said Donnelly, “but separation of men and women in close quarters is both rational and customary in the military as well as in the civilian world.”
Penny Nance, the CEO and president of Concerned Women of America, agreed, saying: “Wallace’s equating race with homosexual behavior is right out of the LGBT political handbook.”
“Civil rights are and were a hard fought battle for people of color and should not be hijacked by any other group for their own purposes,” added Nance.