As one of the very few left-leaning personalities still left on Fox News, Juan Williams has never fit in very well with his co-hosts on The Five. That division was laid bare Thursday afternoon when Williams managed to speak uninterrupted for more than a few seconds and left his colleagues speechless.
The dramatic moment came at what ended up being the final seconds of a segment about Black Lives Matter protesters in Olympia, Washington and the “woke vandals” who damaged the home of that city’s mayor.
For the vast majority segment, Williams couldn’t get a word in edgewise as Jesse Watters whined about the “circular firing squad” of activists and politicians on the left. Or as Dana Perino put it, “The mob giveth and the mob taketh away.”
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It wasn’t until almost six minutes in that moderator Greg Gutfeld finally turned to the panel’s only black commentator to “take us home.”
“Well, you know, my take on this is a little different than the rest of the gang,” Williams began. “Because to me, it comes down to one point. Americans have the right to a peaceful protest, to a peaceful assembly.”
Allowing that vandalism does not fall under that umbrella, Williams affirmed that “everyone” in America has the right to “air their grievances” with the system. “It’s in the First Amendment, for anyone who has a doubt, go check it out,” he told Fox viewers.
When Perino chimed in with, “We’re for that,” Williams said: “I hope you’re all for that, because that’s what going on.”
He proceeded to condemn his co-hosts for actively “demonizing” the Black Lives Matter protesters while failing to mention other bad actors on the scene during the demonstrations.
“Give me a moment here,” he urged them. “Because what is wrong is when you see, for example, these white supremacists who infiltrate a peaceful protest in Oakland and kill a security officer at a federal building.” (Williams was referencing Steven Carrillo, a right-wing “boogaloo” extremist who was charged with the murder of a federal security officer.)
Williams also cited a white supremacist who he said interrupted a protest in Albuquerque and fatally shooting a protester—although, in that case, the protester was only injured, not killed.
“That’s what’s going on! That’s the pattern!” Williams added. “And we should call attention to it, but the media doesn’t call as much attention to that as it deserves.”
When Williams was finished, there was several awkward seconds of silence before Gutfeld finally said: “Different segment for a different time.” He then quickly threw to a commercial break, teasing a conversation about President Trump’s “big comeback” in Tulsa.
