Dr. Anthony Fauci called for the immediate firing of Fox News’ Jesse Watters over comments the host made at a Turning Point USA political conference this week.
Watters implored conservatives to engage in “Project Veritas”-style journalism against Fauci and others, including Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren (MA), explaining how to execute a “set up” question, and then go in for the rhetorical “kill shot.” Watters also told attendees to be “respectful” when they encounter political figures.
Fauci said on CNN airwaves Tuesday morning that Watters should be fired immediately from Fox News. Fauci’s commentary also suggested Watters’ metaphors were not metaphors, but literal.
“I’m wondering how much that concerns you when you hear language like that about you and your wellbeing,” CNN “New Day” host John Berman asked Fauci, noted that he wouldn’t air the clip “because frankly I think it’s dangerous,” Forbes reported.
“Well, John, that’s horrible,” Fauci told Berman. “That just is such a reflection of the craziness that goes on in society.”
“The only thing that I have ever done throughout these two years is to encourage people to practice good public health practices: to get vaccinated, to be careful in public settings, to wear a mask,” he contended.
Fauci, who is not elected, has been a leading voice in lockdown measures since he began working with the White House on the pandemic threat under President Trump.
“And for that, you have some guy out there saying that people should be giving me a ‘kill shot,’ to ‘ambush me.’ I mean, what kind of craziness is there in society these days?” the bureaucrat said, suggesting Watters was speaking literally.
“Whatever network he’s on is not going to do anything,” Fauci asserted, speaking of Fox News. “The guy should be fired on the spot.”
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"The guy should be fired on the spot," says Dr. Fauci about FOX News entertainer Jesse Waters.
Yesterday, Waters told a crowd to "ambush" Dr. Fauci with a "kill shot" so he "doesn't see it coming." pic.twitter.com/GEnuz1BzIO
— Nora Neus (@noraneus) December 21, 2021
During the political conference, Watters encouraged students to ask questions of political leaders and bureaucrats like Fauci, and to get it on camera.
“This is where you say, ‘Dr. Fauci, you funded risky research at a sloppy Chinese lab,'” Watters told attendees. “‘The same lab that sprung this pandemic on the world. You know why people don’t trust you, don’t you?’ Boom. He is dead! His dead. He’s done. You do that in 30 seconds — it’s all you need, 30 seconds.”
“Get us that! That’s what we want,” the host said, encouraging conservatives to tape the encounter and send it to conservative media.
Mimicking a would-be cable news tease, Watters said, “Coming up: ‘Brave college student confronts Lord Fauci at dinner.'”
“That changes the whole conversation of the country,” he added.
WATCH:
The incendiary, dangerous, violent rhetoric against Dr. Fauci continues at AmericaFest. Fox News host Jesse Watters tells them how to go after him to harass him in public: “Now you go in with the kill shot – deadly. Because, with an ambush, he doesn’t see it coming.” pic.twitter.com/V34YZwDdPD
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) December 20, 2021
As seen below, Waters used the same metaphors when explaining how conservatives should confront Sen. Warren.
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In a statement sent from Fox News, the network said “it’s more than clear” Watters’ was using a metaphor.
“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,” Fox News said.
Related: ‘It’s Not An Either/Or’: Fauci Suggests Masks Are Forever, Vaccinated Or Unvaccinated