Tell Fox News: Fire Jesse Watters!
Dear fellow MoveOn member,
Fox News host Jesse Watters has come under fire after making inappropriate and sexist comments about Vice President Kamala Harris that made even his conservative co-hosts uncomfortable.1 And this isn't the first time—he's been making sexist comments about Vice President Harris for years.2
Watters's reckless and sensationalist rhetoric about Vice President Harris must be met with serious consequences, especially as more and more states pass legislation stripping women of their bodily autonomy.
Millions of people across America watch Fox News. It's abhorrent that a news outlet would allow a host to make sexist, inappropriate commentary on air. It's time to hold Fox News and Watters accountable.
That's why I started a petition calling on Fox News to fire Watters! Will you sign?
When talking about Kamala Harris's candidacy for president, Watters suggestively said that military generals would "have their way with her."3 Prominent Republican and former Fox News host Jeanine Pirro called on Fox and Watters to "take it back."4 Former Fox News contributor Donna Brazile also expressed her frustration with Watters, stating, "There has been over 85 female generals in U.S. history with plenty of them still on duty. Perhaps Jesse can properly address them one day."5
Watters's comments are not only offensive to Vice President Harris and the 85 women who have served as U.S. generals—they are harmful to ALL women and girls across the country.
Watters's offensive behavior isn't isolated to Vice President Harris. He has a long history of sexism and racism on Fox News.
Just two days after joining "The Five" as a co-host back in 2017, Watters made a lewd and inappropriate on-air comment about Ivanka Trump as he mimicked her holding a microphone in a suggestive manner.6
During a segment on corporal punishment in schools, he disturbingly asked, "Can you paddle female students? How many smacks do you get?"7
And who could forget his recent weird rant in which he incorrectly claimed that scientists have said, "When a man votes for a woman, he actually transitions into a woman."8
Watters has also led blatantly racist segments over the years targeting Asian American communities, Black voters, and immigrants.9,10,11
This is just a sampling of the disrespect, misogyny, and violence toward women that Watters normalizes every day. Watters has repeatedly crossed the line. If Fox News wants to claim to be a news outlet (rather than the propaganda machine it truly is), then it is up to viewers like us to hold it to the same journalistic standards we would any other media outlet.
Thanks for all you do.
–A. Duncan
Sources:
1. "Jesse Watters Put Fox News in a Rare Position: Covering Its Ass Live on Air," Mother Jones, August 31, 2024
https://act.moveon.org/go/196601?t=7&akid=404408%2E40999114%2EUPskQN
2. "Right-wing media throw sexist tropes at Kamala Harris' laugh," Media Matters for America, October 27, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/196602?t=9&akid=404408%2E40999114%2EUPskQN
3. "Jesse Watters addresses backlash over provocative Kamala Harris punditry," The Washington Post, August 27, 2024
https://act.moveon.org/go/196603?t=11&akid=404408%2E40999114%2EUPskQN
4. "Jesse Watters Put Fox News in a Rare Position: Covering Its Ass Live on Air," Mother Jones, August 31, 2024
https://act.moveon.org/go/196601?t=13&akid=404408%2E40999114%2EUPskQN
5. "Jesse Watters addresses backlash over provocative Kamala Harris punditry," The Washington Post, August 27, 2024
https://act.moveon.org/go/196603?t=15&akid=404408%2E40999114%2EUPskQN
6. "Fox News host Jesse Watters under fire for Ivanka Trump comment," USA Today, April 27, 2017
https://act.moveon.org/go/196604?t=17&akid=404408%2E40999114%2EUPskQN
7. "Jesse Watters' most egregious attacks against women in 2022," Media Matters for America, December 16, 2022
https://act.moveon.org/go/196605?t=19&akid=404408%2E40999114%2EUPskQN
8. "Fox Host Says Men Who Vote For Women 'Transition' to Women," Rolling Stone, July 31, 2024
https://act.moveon.org/go/196606?t=21&akid=404408%2E40999114%2EUPskQN
9. "Fox News Reporter: Sorry If 'Tongue-In-Cheek' Chinatown Segment Caused Offense," NPR, October 6, 2016
https://act.moveon.org/go/196607?t=23&akid=404408%2E40999114%2EUPskQN
10. "Here's the Racism and Cruelty Fox News Rewarded When It Promoted Jesse Watters," Rolling Stone, January 10, 2022
https://act.moveon.org/go/196608?t=25&akid=404408%2E40999114%2EUPskQN
11. "Fox News host criticised for 'disturbing' claim about immigrants," The Independent, May 4, 2023
https://act.moveon.org/go/196609?t=27&akid=404408%2E40999114%2EUPskQN
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