Jesse Watters jokingly attacks Fox cohost for ‘gay shaming’ him over his bromance with Michigan progressive
Fox News’ Jesse Watters jokingly attacked his co-host for “gay shaming” him over his bromance with Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Michigan, who asked Watters if he was circumcised during a recent interview.
On Wednesday’s episode of The Five, the panel members discussed remarks by Hillary Clinton, who this week described the rise of democratic socialism in the Democratic party as “healthy” and “a kind of experiment.”
“It’s about speaking to the concerns of the populace,” liberal co-host Jessica Tarlov said. “And that is something that actually these candidates, from the [Democratic Socialists of America] or from the progressive left, like Jesse’s new boyfriend Abdul, are doing a lot more effectively than the center of the party.”
Watters shot back: “Are you gay shaming me?”
“I’m gay-priding you every day, Jesse. I very much enjoyed the interview and was sad that I missed circumcision day,” Tarlov said, drawing laughter from the panel.
The back-and-forth came one day after Watters revealed that he has a soft spot for El-Sayed, a progressive who campaigned on Medicare for All and clinched the Democratic nomination earlier this month.
“I actually like Abdul. I probably shouldn’t like him, but I do,” the Fox News host said on Tuesday. “I think he’d be a terrible senator and he’s a little bit of a lunatic…But at least he’s not your typical stiff.”
Earlier in the day, Watters released a 25-minute, one-on-one interview with El-Sayed, which, while combative, also included moments of levity.
At one point, El-Sayed described his Republican opponent, Mike Rogers, as a “beta” for not having appeared on Watters’ show, prompting Watters to laugh.
For much of the interview, the host grilled the candidate on his past statements, including on guns, the NFL and Sharia law. Watters accused El-Sayed of “dodging” questions, while the Michigan Democrat charged the host with focusing on culture war issues that matter little to voters.
One odd moment came when the Fox News host asked El-Sayed whether he supports “sex changes for minors” and whether he believes it’s permissible “for a parent to slash his kid’s ding-a-ling off?”
El-Sayed, an epidemiologist, then asked Watters whether he had been circumcised.
“Yeah, but that’s personal question, doctor,” Watters replied, appearing perplexed. “Circumcision is different than castration.”
“It’s a problem that you think you get to decide what happens between a parent, a doctor and a patient,” the Senate hopeful shot back.
El-Sayed will face off against Rogers, his Republican opponent, in November. Polls indicate it is shaping up to be a close race.
