Jesse Watters' First Show as Tucker's Replacement Ends in Embarrassment When His Own Mom Calls In: 'This Was a Bad Idea'
Monday’s premiere of “Jesse Watters Primetime” at 8 p.m. ET was an embarrassment for Fox News and an insult to viewers at home who had grown accustomed to substantive conversations and topics during the hour.
Watters’ liberal mother called in to castigate him on television for his criticism of President Joe Biden and Hunter Biden and she also asked him to stop talking about adults who push children to mutilate their bodies.
If that wasn’t embarrassing enough for Fox News, she also appeared to insult former network host Tucker Carlson and the show was seemingly prerecorded.
Watters’ show was placed in Carlson’s old time slot beginning this week as part of Fox News’ prime-time shakeup.
Amid sinking viewership over the decision to oust Carlson, the entire primetime lineup was reshuffled — minus the hour that has been held by Sean Hannity for more than two decades.
With Carlson at the helm, 8 p.m. on Fox News was must-see TV for years as the host poked the bear and demanded accountability from government at all times.
No one was safe from the biting analysis and onslaughts of blunt questions no one else was willing to ask — especially duplicitous people such as Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who wouldn’t dare appear on “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”
But Fox News pulled the irreplaceable Carlson from the air at the height of his popularity and forced Watters’ liberal mother on viewers during his inaugural show Monday.
Anne Watters, a proud liberal, called into the show to evaluate her son’s performance.
“We have a very special guest on the line, a Democrat, my mom,” Watters told viewers, before he asked her, “How have you enjoyed the show so far?”
Our first 8pm show is in the books, so how did we do? My mom calls in with some advice. pic.twitter.com/w8psRW1Whm
— Jesse Watters (@JesseBWatters) July 18, 2023
His mother responded, “I want to say congratulations, honey bun, we are so proud of you and your accomplishments and you’ve worked so hard. Now let’s aim to have you keep your job.”
“To that end, I do have some suggestions,” she said. “Do not tumble into any conspiracy rabbit holes. We do not want to lose you and we want no lawsuits, OK?”
She then made some comments that are easy to interpret as insults to Carlson — who the rest of the media has tried to portray as a wild conspiracy theorist:
“In keeping with the Hippocratic Oath, do no harm. We need you to be kind and respectful. You yourself mentioned that humble is a stretch, so I get that. Use your voice responsibly to promote conversation that maintains a narrative thread.
“There really has been enough Biden bashing and the laptop is old. Perhaps you can suggest that your people take less interest, for example, in other people’s bodies and talk about that.”
Watters cut in to say he was discussing protecting children’s bodies, but Mom kept talking.
“I knew this was a bad idea,” he said.
She concluded, “I’m speaking at a small dinner between 5 and 8,” before the call ended.
If Watters’ mom was planning to speak to a bunch of other Democrats between 5 and 8 p.m. ET, then what was she doing on the phone with Watters prior to those comments?
It appeared as though the phone call was recorded prior to the airing of the show and that producers saw no issue with her tacit insults of Carlson or with the death of the integrity of the time slot.
Not to insult Watters on a personal level, but if Fox News were a football team seeking a quarterback to propel it to prime time to ratings glory, he wouldn’t be the obvious starter.
Yet the network cut the Tom Brady of political commentary and journalism and replaced him with the game manager that is Watters.
The game manager has baggage in a mom who roots for another team, and that is supposed to endear him to people who are watching.
While Watters is willing to go there on many issues, the reality is he was the safe replacement for Carlson in that he will most likely never step over whatever parameters the Murdoch family has set for him.
He is comfortable, liked and familiar.
Fox News will expect Carlson’s fans to return to regularly watching his old time slot with Watters because the network does not respect its audience and that’s what happened after Bill O’Reilly was axed and Carlson was put under center in 2017.
But O’Reilly was replaced by a heavyweight, whereas no one can replicate Carlson.
The 8 p.m. hour is now a shell of its former self and Fox News desperately wants viewers to see how relatable its new starter is.
He has a mom!
Watters’ mom disagrees with him and he’s a good son!
Keep watching!
No thanks.
Monday’s embarrassing gimmick was an insult to the good people who have been watching Fox News since the late 1990s to escape being insulted by the left for how they worship, vote and think.
Watters already faced an uphill climb in taking over the hour. During his humiliating debut, his far-left mother was enlisted to wrist-slap him on the air, shade his wildly successful predecessor and dismiss issues that conservatives care about.
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