Fox News host Jesse Watters, no stranger to accusations of racism and bigotry, decided to go full-on Islamophobic on Wednesday by claiming that he’s “had it” with Arab Americans and Muslims.
Amid the escalating violence in Gaza and increased calls for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, college campuses and cities across the world have also seen a surge of anti-Israel protesters tearing down posters of hostages taken by Hamas terrorists.
Reporting on the incidents of the ubiquitous fliers being destroyed, The New York Times noted that displaying “the posters has become a form of activism, keeping the more than 200 hostages seized by Hamas in full view of the public.”
ADVERTISEMENT
At the same time, the paper pointed out that the removal of the fliers had “quickly emerged as its own form of protest,” likening it to a “release valve” for those angry with the Israeli government’s treatment of Palestinians. “The battle has inflamed already tense emotions,” the Times stated. “And it captures one of the most fervently debated questions of the war: Whose suffering should command public attention and sympathy?”
Sparking outrage on Fox News, The Gray Lady’s framing of the poster-ripping incidents was the top story on Wednesday's broadcast of The Five, the right-wing network’s most-watched show. With an on-air graphic blaring that the “Liberal Media” was defending the removal of the hostage posters, Watters went off on an unhinged and angry tirade.
“I want to say something about Arab Americans and about the Muslim world,” he began.
“We—and when I say we I mean the West and Western technology—have created the Middle East,” Watters continued. “We made them rich. We got that oil out of the ground, our military protects all of these oil shipments flying around the world, making them rich. We fund their military. We respect their kings. We kill their terrorists. Okay? But we’ve had it. We’ve had it with them!”
After saying that previous presidents have “tried to get the heck out of that stupid desert,” he raged that the Oct. 7 terror attacks happened “just as we’re about to get out” after arranging “this great balance of power.”
And it kept going.
“These crazy Muslim fanatics come in and massacre over a thousand of our allies. And hold Jewish people hostage, hold Americans hostage,” he bellowed before seemingly advocating for violence. “And so, if you’re an Arab American in this country, and you rip down posters of Jewish hostages, American hostages—no. No, no, no. Someone is going to get punched in the face.”
He then took issue with the Times article, saying they’ve “now made suffering a commodity” before agreeing with co-host Greg Gutfeld’s argument that minorities are given a “free punch” in today’s society.
“They’ll put a price tag on emotional suffering,” Watters declared. “You know, is it the Jews? Is it Black teens? The Native Americans? The Palestinians? Who’s suffered the most and he who suffered the most is allowed, as you say, a free punch.”
He concluded: “And so now they have justified violence to avenge suffering. And so now people are above the law. People are below the law and that’s making everybody crazy because we can’t live in a country like that. And I won’t live in a country like that.”
Following Watters’ over-the-top rant, Harold Ford, Jr.—the show’s resident “liberal” panelist—added that he doesn’t “necessarily disagree with what Jesse said.”
