MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace serves as an anchor for the network's Democratic debate coverage, but her strong admiration for several leading candidates belies her status as an objective journalist.
Perhaps the staunchest anti-Trump voice on the channel, Wallace has repeatedly pledged to vote for whichever Democrat wins the party's nomination in 2020. To that end, she has heaped praise on the Democratic hopefuls she covers.
After a speech he gave criticizing Vice President Mike Pence, Wallace said South Bend, Ind., mayor Pete Buttigieg was "chicken soup for my soul," and subsequently added, "That guy makes me feel better." She also said he spoke "the language of the faith community in a beautiful and eloquent way."
She called Sen. Kamala Harris (D., Calif.) "brilliant," "beautiful," and "a badass" who has exposed the "psychological issues" of Donald Trump because she's the sort of woman he would never even have been able to look at.
She said Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) is "smarter asleep on Ambien" than Trump would be while "jacked up" on coffee.
She told former Texas congressman Beto O'Rourke that he gets unfairly snarky treatment from the media, asked for advice on how she could cover him better, and once began to tell him she was "rooting" for him before recovering and claiming to be rooting for "everybody."
She said "everyone loves Joe Biden," and said she missed his old boss, Barack Obama, while eulogizing Aretha Franklin last year.
Wallace served as communications director in the George W. Bush White House, then worked for Sen. John McCain's (R., Ariz.) 2008 presidential campaign. She did not vote for McCain, but did vote for Hillary Clinton in 2016. She describes herself as a "non-practicing Republican."