Fox News host Jesse Watters had to retract an inappropriate comment about Vice President Kamala Harris during a panel discussion on MondayMediat reported.
Waters, a prime-time host on the network, faced some resistance when he claimed that if Harris were elected president, the generals in the Situation Room would “do whatever they wanted with her.”
This sexually suggestive comment came during a discussion marking the third anniversary of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and the killing of 13 U.S. soldiers and 170 Afghans in suicide attacks in 2021. Republicans have long criticized President Joe Biden’s handling of the withdrawal.
“She was the last in the (Situation) Room (on) Afghanistan, she was the border czar, and she was the deciding vote “on trillions of inflationary spending,” Watters said, Mediaite reported. “On these three of Joe Biden’s favorite points, she’s basically like a Siamese twin. You can’t separate the two.”
Harris was never the “border czar,” but was instead tasked with helping Central American countries deal with the conditions that caused people to flee. Unlike Watters, Harris’ vote for the Inflation Reduction Act led to a steady decline in inflation.
But it was Watters’ comment about the generals that sparked backlash on the show.
Jeanie Pirro was the first to react and reprimanded Watters for his sexually suggestive comment. “I don’t like that. Take it back,” she said. Her colleague Dana Perino then condemned the comment and called Watters by his full name.
Without apologizing, Watters attempted to downplay the sexist nature of the comment.
“In a figurative sense: Do what you want with her! Control her. But not in a sexual way,” he replied.
