Chris Wallace's Double Standard On Presidential Vacations During A Russian Crisis

Fox host Chris Wallace asked former Secretary of State Robert Gates to comment on the appropriateness of President Obama's decision to “take the weekend off in the middle of” the developing crisis in Ukraine. But in 2008, Wallace struck a much different tone during Russia's invasion of Georgia, mentioning then-President Bush's trip to his Texas ranch without a hint of criticism.

On the March 9 edition of Fox Broadcasting Co.'s Fox News Sunday, Wallace joined the media in implicitly criticizing Obama for spending the weekend in Florida with his family. Wallace asked former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates if “it's helpful for president Obama to take the weekend off in the middle of what you call a crisis to be playing golf in Florida”:

Wallace's concern about the president's weekend vacation flies in the face of his attitude during a similar interview following Russia's invasion of Georgia in 2008. While discussing the situation with then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on the August 17, 2008, edition of Fox News Sunday, Wallace mentioned that Rice had joined President Bush at his Texas ranch but never once broached the appropriateness of the trip in the 13-minute interview:

WALLACE: With questions about the ceasefire and U.S.-Georgia relations, we're joined by the Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who's been meeting with the president in Crawford, Texas, following her trip to Georgia.