Fox News backs host as Fauci demands he be fired
Fox News says comments by Jesse Watters have been ‘twisted completely out of context’
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Fox News backed its host Jesse Watters despite Anthony Fauci calling for his sacking after he asked a crowd of young conservatives to “ambush” the top diseases exert and urged them to go for a rhetorical “kill shot”.
In a statement cited in several reports, Fox News said Mr Watters’s comments had been taken out of context.
“Based on watching the full clip and reading the entire transcript, it’s more than clear that Jesse Watters was using a metaphor for asking hard-hitting questions to Dr Fauci about gain-of-function research and his words have been twisted completely out of context,” the statement said.
The violent rhetoric was used by The Five host during an address at a conference of the conservative group Turning Point USA last weekend.
“You got to ambush a guy like Fauci. OK, this is how you do these ambushes like [Project Veritas founder James] O’Keefe. You got to be respectful because they’ll turn the tables on you and you can’t have it blow up in your face,” Mr Watters said at the event.
“This guy’s scrambling at this point. You have the goods,” he added.
He also accused Dr Fauci of funding research at a Wuhan-based virology lab in China that has been at the centre of accusations for the “lab leak” theory of the origin of Covid-19.
“Now you go in for the kill shot. The kill shot....whew, with an ambush, deadly. Because he doesn’t see it coming. This is when you say, ‘Dr Fauci, you funded risky research at a sloppy Chinese lab’... Boom, he is dead! He is dead! He’s done!”
Dr Fauci had called for Mr Watters’ dismissal by the network when he was asked about the presenter’s comments on CNN’s New Day.
“That’s awful that he said that. And he’s going to go very likely unaccountable. I mean, whatever network he’s on is not going to do anything for him. I mean, that’s crazy. The guy should be fired on the spot,” Dr Fauci had said.
The chief medical adviser to president Joe Biden has been the subject of harassment, intimidation and death threats from conservatives for his push for mask mandates and vaccinations during the pandemic.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments