Fox News correspondent-at-large Geraldo Rivera warned Fox News host Jesse Watters on Thursday that he was “giving false hope to people” by lending credence to the unhinged election conspiracies peddled by the Trump campaign as it attempts to overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
Hours after Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani held an off-the-rails 90-minute press conference in which he and other Trump legal advisers alleged a global conspiracy to steal millions of votes from President Donald Trump, Watters—who has largely backed Trump’s baseless voter fraud allegations—applauded Team Trump’s performance.
“It was a big shot of adrenaline today,” the Trump-boosting host declared during Thursday’s broadcast of The Five, adding that Giuliani says “he has hundreds of sworn affidavits” that allege corruption in the election.
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After Watters echoed many of the unsubstantiated accusations of voter fraud that have recently been peddled by the president and his allies, Rivera threw cold water on the Giuliani claims.
“Come on, Jesse,” he exclaimed. “The Clinton Foundation, George Soros, Hugo Chavez! I’m probably the only one in this building who has actually met Hugo Chavez!”
While Rivera was touching on some of the more outlandish assertions made in the news conference, Watters defended himself, noting that he “didn’t say anything about that” and instead talked about Giuliani’s “sworn affidavits.”
Rivera, meanwhile, continued to blast the Trump campaign’s allegations of an “international conspiracy,” quipping: “What about Elvis?!”
The one-time Celebrity Apprentice contestant added that he “loves the president and wanted him to win” before blasting Giuliani’s performance as “bizarre and unfocused,” questioning all along where the evidence is behind the ex-New York City mayor’s wild allegations.
Watters pushed back that the campaign has several standing lawsuits in key states, prompting Rivera to remind him that the Trump team recently dropped their lawsuits in both Michigan and Pennsylvania, among other states.
“We’re giving false hope to people,” an exasperated Rivera finally stated.
Watters waved off his colleague, however, saying Rivera should want to “pursue these fraud allegations” in order for half the country to feel confident about the election results.
Watters’ fellow Five co-host Greg Gutfeld also took issue with Rivera questioning the lack of proof that Giuliani and others have provided to support their outrageous claims.
“We are hearing reporters saying there is no evidence as if they themselves looked. They have not,” he bellowed, adding: “It’s not investigating just to listen to a press conference and say ‘There is no evidence.’ Because you know they would not do that if it was on the Republicans. The reason why you can’t find evidence: you are not looking!”
Interestingly, immediately following Giuliani’s news conference, Fox News correspondent Kristin Fisher delivered a robust fact-check of the Trump lawyer’s baseless assertions, noting they were “light on facts” and that “much of what he said was simply not true.”
