Chris Wallace On Presidential Debate 2020: Biden's Answers 'Weren't Always Great', Trump To Blame For 'Mess'

Fox News anchor and presidential debate moderator Chris Wallace expressed his "disappointment" with the way Tuesday night's chaotic event turned out under his watch.

Appearing on Fox News' "Bill Hemmer Reports" on Thursday, Wallace blamed President Donald Trump for interrupting Democratic nominee Joe Biden during the 90-minute debate that often saw the "Fox News' Sunday" host struggling to control the format.

Wallace also cited an analysis that indicated the president interrupted his opponent or the moderator a total of 145 times, more than once every minute, Fox News reported.

"My initial reaction was, 'This is great' because so often these debates become parallel news conferences where one candidate answers the question to him, the other candidate answers the question to him," Wallace said.

"It became clear and clearer over time that this was something different and that the president was determined to try to butt in or throw Joe Biden off. He bears the primary responsibility for what happened on Tuesday night," he added.

Wallace also said he thought Biden's answers "weren't always great" and that the president could have had picked them apart if he had interrupted less often. The moderator also acknowledged that the debate was chaotic and joked that he had just recovered from the PTSD in the aftermath.

However, Wallace revealed feeling frustrated after he and his team spent hundreds of hours putting together a "debate book" containing materials on the candidates' stances and plans.

"I felt like I had gotten together all of the ingredients. I had the baked this beautiful, delicious cake. And then, frankly, the president put his foot in it, and that was frustrating," he said.

According to Deadline, the longtime journalist also expressed some doubts over one of the changes that are reportedly being considered by debate organizers in hopes of making the next two events more orderly. He said cutting off the candidates' microphones may not do the trick.

"Even if you cut off the president's mic, you still would have heard it over Biden's, and in addition, the president still would have been disrupting and distracting Biden," he said.

Wallace also offered advice for C-Span's Steve Scully, who is set to moderate the second presidential debate on Oct. 15. The next event will follow a town hall format where an audience of undecided voters will be asking the candidates questions. He suggested using the citizens as a means to keep Biden and Trump from interrupting each other.