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Kamala Harris and Jesse Watters

Molly Butler / Media Matters

Jesse Watters’ sexist and racist remarks about Kamala Harris’ presidential run

Written by Matt Gertz

Research contributions from Helena Hind

Published 09/03/24 10:16 AM EDT

Jesse Watters’ Fox News career has been plagued by scandals generated by his racist and sexist invective. But even by his own low standards, the prime-time host has been on a tear over the two months since President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 race and threw his support to Vice President Kamala Harris.

Watters, on his eponymous show and as a member of the panel hosting Fox’s The Five, has leaned into sexist tropes, describing Harris as “a frightened woman” and a “princess” who is “just not at the level of what you would think would be a president.” He has also peppered his commentary with racial attacks, saying she is vice president only due to “DEI” and is “not African American, technically, because she has a Jamaican dad.”

His claim that Harris would “get paralyzed in the situation room while the generals have their way with her” triggered an external backlash and shocked on-air responses from his female co-hosts on The Five. The following day, Watters said critics were “misconstruing” his comments, which he said weren’t intended to suggest “anything of a sexual nature.”

But such incidents are a regular feature of Watters’ tenure at Fox. He has generated firestorms for claiming that female journalists sleep with their sources “all the time” and for a segment replete with stereotypes and featuring the song Kung Fu Fighting in which he interviewed residents of New York City’s Chinatown, among others.

Those controversies have done little to arrest Watters’ climb up the Fox ladder to his current position hosting the network’s flagship time slot. He’s been helped along by his close relationship to former President Donald Trump, for whom he aggressively cheer-leads.

As Trump’s supporters have struggled to figure out how to effectively respond to Harris replacing Biden on the Democratic ticket, Watters has repeatedly tried to fill that void with what he knows best: racist and misogynistic commentary.

Watters: Hillary Clinton endorsed Kamala Harris “because she’s a woman"

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From the July 21, 2024, edition of Fox News' Jesse Watters Primetime 

Watters: Harris is vice president due to a “DEI deal” and has the media’s support because "they love a Black woman taking on a white man.”

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From the July 23, 2024, edition of Fox News' Jesse Watters Primetime.

Watters: Men who support Harris have “mommy issues. … I heard the scientists say the other day that when a man votes for a woman, he actually transitions into a woman.”

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From the July 30, 2024, edition of Fox News' The Five

Watters: Harris is “not African American, technically, because she has a Jamaican dad.”

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From the July 31, 2024, edition of Fox News' The Five 

Watters praised Trump for taking on “issues” like Harris' heritage by telling her, “You ain’t Black.”

Watters was responding to Trump’s bogus claim that Harris had been misleading voters about her race and only recently decided to “turn Black.”

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From the July 31, 2024, edition of Fox News' Jesse Watters Primetime

Watters on Harris: “She likes wine. She likes food. She likes to dance. She's just like your typical girl's girl that talks behind everybody's back and then says nice things to your face. She's just not at the level of what you would think would be a president.”

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From the August 2, 2024, edition of Fox News' Jesse Watters Primetime

Watters: Harris is “a frightened woman too insecure to tell us who she is.”

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From the August 27, 2024, edition of Fox News' Jesse Watters Primetime

Watters: “If you want to be a girlboss, do you really want to be treated like a little girl? Because that's how we’re treating Kamala.”

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From the August 8, 2024, edition of Fox News' Jesse Watters Primetime

Watters: Harris “is not a real presidential candidate. Kamala’s a princess. … It's like Paris Hilton's going to be president.”

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From the August 9, 2024, edition of Fox News' The Five.

Watters: Harris will “get paralyzed in the situation room while the generals have their way with her.”

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From the August 26, 2024, edition of Fox News' The Five

Watters says Harris will be “sassy” and “play the victim” during the first presidential debate.

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From the August 27, 2024, edition of Fox News' Jesse Watters Primetime

Watters called Harris a “nervous wreck” who is “insecure and riddled with anxiety.”

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From the August 28, 2024, edition of Fox News' Jesse Watters Primetime

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Pagination

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In This Article

  • Kamala Harris

    Kamala Harris
  • Jesse Watters

    Jesse Watters
  • Fox News

    Fox-News-MMFA-Tag.png
  • Diversity & Discrimination

    Diversity & Discrimination

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