The Biden administration is calling for Fox News prime-time host Jesse Watters to apologize for what it said were Islamophobic remarks made during Wednesday’s edition of “The Five” on Fox News.
Watters said on air, “We — and when I say we, I mean, the West and Western technology — have created the Middle East. We made them rich. We got that oil out of the ground. Our military protects all of these oil shipments flying around the world, making them rich. We fund their military. We respect their kings. We kill their terrorists, OK? But we’ve had it. We’ve had it with them.”
He continued, “Obama, Trump, now Biden, have tried to get the heck out of that stupid desert. Just as we’re about to get out, because we have this great balance of power we’re arranging, these crazy Muslim fanatics come in and massacre over a thousand of our allies and hold Jewish people hostage, hold Americans hostage. And so, if you are an Arab American in this country and you ripped down posters of Jewish hostages, American hostages, no! No, no, no. Someone is gonna get punched in the face. When you rip down posters of the hostages like that — this is — absolutely not.”
In a statement to several news outlets, including The Daily Beast’s Justin Baragona, White House spokesperson Andrew Bates condemned the Fox News star’s comments, saying, “These hateful lies about ‘Arab Americans and … the Muslim world’ highlight the urgency of President Biden’s work to ensure hate has no safe harbor in America, and why he committed to the first national anti-Islamophobia strategy in our history.”
Those who defend Watters might say he was specifically criticizing those who tore down posters of Jewish hostages. But the overall commentary did seem problematic.
Bates also mentioned the recent murder of Wadea al-Fayoume, a Palestinian boy who was allegedly stabbed and killed by his landlord in what appears to be a hate crime.
Bates said, “These unacceptable remarks come just weeks after the heartbreaking killing of a 6-year-old Palestinian-American child, and during a spike in threats against Muslim and Arab Americans. Fox News owes an apology to every single viewer for this sickening attack on the rights and dignity of their fellow Americans. President Biden will always stand up against Islamophobia, antisemitism, and all forms of hate. Fox News should learn from his example.”
This is the second time in a week that President Joe Biden or one of his spokespersons have complained about coverage regarding the war between Israel and Hamas.
Semafor’s Max Tani and Liz Hoffman reported that, last week, Biden blasted The New York Times regarding its initial headline after the bombing of a hospital in Gaza City. The headline was based on Hamas’ claim that Israel was responsible for the attack. It’s still unclear who launched the attack, but the U.S. now believes the rocket was fired from within Gaza. Biden’s complaints about the Times’ headline were to a small group of Wall Street executives in the White House
