Fox News host walks back widely criticized statement about Kamala Harris
Fox News’ Jesse Watters continues to walk back a controversial comment he made about how Kamala Harris as president wouldn’t be taken seriously in the White House’s Situation Room and that generals would “have their way with her.”
Watters spoke during “The Five” on Monday about the 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and Harris’ role in the fiasco. He questioned whether Harris could handle the job as president.
“We don’t know who she is. We don’t know what she believes,” Watters said. “She’s going to get paralyzed in the Situation Room while the generals have their way with her.”
Kerstin Emhoff, the ex-wife of second gentleman Douglas Emhoff, was among the many people who came to the vice president’s defense.
“There are many things to worry about, but Kamala being manhandled in the situation room is not one of them,” she wrote on X.
Watters immediately faced pushback from another member of “The Five,” Jeanine Pirro, who jumped in and said, “Jesse, I don’t like that. Take it back.”
“Figuratively, again,” Watters said, “Have their way with her! Control her. Not in a sexual way.”
Watters, a day later, said he didn’t mean anything by the comment after intense backlash.
“There’s been some attention to comments I made on the show yesterday about VP Harris,” he said.
“People are misconstruing my comments to mean something inappropriate. I wasn’t suggesting anything of a sexual nature. I was expressing my opinion that VP Harris’s current leadership style could be an issue if elected.”