Category: Media
Role: Fox News prime-time host (8 p.m. slot, replacing Tucker Carlson); promoted election denial narratives, defended the fake-elector scheme, and used inflammatory rhetoric that contributed to the political environment surrounding January 6
Priority: P0

Background

Jesse Bailey Watters (born July 9, 1978, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is a conservative political commentator and television personality. He graduated from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut (BA 2001).

Fox News Career

• 2002: Joined Fox News as a production assistant
• 2003–2015: Worked as a producer, then became an on-air correspondent, primarily known for ambush-style “man on the street” interview segments on “The O’Reilly Factor”
• 2015–2017: Hosted “Watters’ World” as a recurring segment, then weekly Saturday show
• 2017–present: Co-host of “The Five”
• 2022–2023: Host of “Jesse Watters Primetime” at 7 p.m.
• July 2023–present: Moved to the 8 p.m. prime-time slot, replacing Tucker Carlson following Carlson’s departure in April 2023 after Fox’s $787.5 million Dominion settlement. Retained co-hosting duties on “The Five”

Watters rose through Fox News ranks from production assistant to prime-time anchor over two decades. His confrontational, provocative style has generated repeated controversies involving racist, sexist, and xenophobic rhetoric, COVID-19 misinformation, and violent political rhetoric.

Documented Actions: 2020–2026

1. Early January 2021 (pre-January 6): Stated on air, “We used to storm the castle over abuses of power like this,” in reference to the upcoming January 6 certification vote. This language — invoking violent insurrection as a response to political grievances — contributed to the rhetorical environment preceding the Capitol attack.

1. August 2023: After Trump’s federal indictment for election interference, encouraged Trump on air to “relitigate the 2020 election in federal court,” suggesting Trump could use subpoena power to “try to prove there was election fraud in Philly, Vegas, Arizona, Detroit.” This framing treated the criminal proceeding as an opportunity to validate debunked fraud claims.

1. August 2023: Defended the fake-elector scheme on air, arguing that asking Vice President Mike Pence to return the election to state legislatures was simply “politics” rather than illegal activity. Compared Trump’s fake-elector plan to the 1960 Hawaii electors dispute, a misleading historical analogy that omitted fundamental differences (Hawaii’s alternate electors were submitted with court authorization during an ongoing recount; Trump’s were fabricated without legal basis in states where results had been certified).

1. 2021–present: Continued to promote election-denial narratives, spread COVID-19 misinformation, fantasized about “ambushing” Dr. Anthony Fauci with a “kill shot” (his words, later claiming he meant a rhetorical “kill shot” question), and used inflammatory rhetoric across multiple policy areas. Media Matters characterized him as a “misinformation machine.”

1. July 2023: Elevated to Fox News’s prime-time 8 p.m. slot following Tucker Carlson’s departure, effectively inheriting the most influential conservative cable news timeslot. The promotion came in the wake of the Dominion settlement, demonstrating that election-denial amplification carried no professional consequences within Fox’s programming decisions.

Pattern Analysis

Watters represents the second generation of Fox News election-denial amplifiers — less central to the original 2020 disinformation campaign than Bartiromo or Pirro, but instrumental in normalizing and defending the underlying schemes (fake electors, certification challenges) after they were exposed and prosecuted. His elevation to the 8 p.m. prime-time slot following Carlson’s departure ensured continuity of inflammatory rhetoric and election denial in Fox’s most-watched timeslot.

His “storm the castle” rhetoric days before January 6 illustrates how media personalities contributed to the insurrectionary climate without directly organizing the attack.

Severity Assessment

Immediate harm: Moderate-to-High — Watters’ pre-January 6 rhetoric contributed to the insurrectionary environment; his ongoing defense of the fake-elector scheme normalizes election subversion as legitimate political strategy.
Democratic erosion: Significant — His prime-time platform (8 p.m., Fox News’s most-watched slot) provides nightly normalization of anti-democratic rhetoric to millions of viewers. His defense of the fake-elector scheme as “politics” erodes the distinction between legitimate political contestation and criminal election interference.

Accountability Status

Current status: Remains employed at Fox News as prime-time 8 p.m. host. Promoted — not disciplined — following the Dominion settlement. Faces no legal or professional consequences.
Legal exposure: Not named as a defendant in Dominion or Smartmatic lawsuits. Not individually indicted.
Pardon status: N/A — not criminally charged.

Investigative trail pointers (public records)

Education only — verify independently. Absence of hits is not proof.

Use public-records-research-specialist, corporate-intelligence-investigator, and public-corruption-ombudsman evidence tiers.

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For Trump Supporters: Questions Worth Considering

Days before January 6, Jesse Watters told his Fox News audience: “We used to storm the castle over abuses of power like this.” That sentence aired on a network watched by millions during a week when the president was publicly calling on supporters to come to Washington for an event that “will be wild.” After January 6, Watters defended the fake elector scheme on air, calling it simply “politics” — and compared it to the 1960 Hawaii electors dispute, while omitting that Hawaii’s alternate electors were submitted under court authorization during an ongoing recount, not fabricated after states had certified results. Fox then promoted Watters to the 8 p.m. prime-time slot — Tucker Carlson’s old slot — following the $787.5 million Dominion settlement.

Here’s a question worth sitting with: Watters’s “storm the castle” language aired before January 6. His defense of the fake-elector scheme aired after people went to prison for it. If a left-wing cable news host had told viewers to “storm the castle” days before his political allies physically stormed the Capitol — and then defended their organizers as just doing “politics” — would you consider that responsible media conduct? Would you still watch that host? Apply the same standard here.

A second question about Fox’s editorial judgment: Fox paid Dominion $787.5 million to settle a defamation lawsuit over election fraud coverage its own executives privately knew was false — internal messages showed they understood the claims were untrue while amplifying them. After that settlement, Fox did not discipline or remove Watters. It promoted him to its most-watched slot. What does that promotion tell you about whether Fox’s programming is designed to inform you or to tell you what its audience wants to hear? That question matters regardless of your politics — because you deserve a news source that’s actually trying to tell you the truth.

Sources

• Media Matters for America, “Fox News names misinformation machine Jesse Watters as permanent host of 7 p.m. hour” (January 2022)
• Media Matters for America, “Jesse Watters encourages Donald Trump to relitigate the 2020 election in federal court” (August 2023)
• Media Matters for America, “Jesse Watters is Fox’s new 8 p.m. host. Advertisers should beware” (June 2023)
• Washington Post, “Jesse Watters has a ludicrous defense of the 2020 fake-elector scheme” (August 2023)
• CNN, “Fox installs right-wing flame-thrower Jesse Watters to 7 p.m. slot” (January 2022)
• CNBC, “Fox News picks Jesse Watters to replace Tucker Carlson” (June 2023)
• NPR, “Fox News brings Jesse Watters to Tucker Carlson’s former time slot” (June 2023)

Cross-References

• January 6th Coup Plotters and Co-Conspirators
• Maria Bartiromo — Fox Business Host
• Jeanine Pirro — Former Fox News Host / U.S. Attorney for DC
• Mark Levin — Fox News Host / Conservative Radio Host

Last Updated: May 11, 2026