White House blasts Fox’s Watters over comments on Middle East 

The White House is condemning comments from Jesse Watters, a popular Fox News host, who complained this week about the instability and ongoing violence in the Middle East.

“I want to say something about Arab Americans and about the Muslim world,” Watters said during Wednesday’s edition of table talk program “The Five.”

“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. Okay? But we’ve had it. We’ve had it with them.”

Watters added, “And so, if you’re an Arab American in this country, and you ripped down posters of Jewish hostages of American hostages, no, no, no, no, someone is going to get punched in the face. When you rip down posters of hostages like that. This is absolutely not.”

The host’s comments come amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas following the group’s terrorist attack on Israel earlier this month, which has sparked fears of a potential broader global conflict and raised questions about the U.S. role on the world stage.

Watters said multiple presidential administrations have “tried to get the heck out of that stupid desert,” before decrying “these crazy Muslim fanatics” who he said “come in and massacre over a thousand of our allies. And hold Jewish people hostage, hold Americans hostage.”

In a statement Thursday, the White House condemned the host’s remarks, calling them “hateful lies.”

“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,” White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said, referring to the fatal stabbing of a 6-year-old Muslim boy by an Illinois landlord earlier this month.

“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 story was updated at 7:54pm.