Op-Ed: Jesse Watters Makes Creepy Jasmine Crockett Remarks

Either Fox News host Jesse Watters is a despicable misogynist who has no respect for successful, career-oriented Black women whatsoever—or he’s a despicable misogynist who has a secret crush on Rep. Jasmine Crockett.

During a segment of “The Five” last Thursday, Watters went out of his way to bring Crockett’s personal life into a political discussion that never would have devolved into such comments if she were a white man who happened to be unmarried.

Watters claimed he “researched” Crockett, which apparently meant he scoured social media to find out her relationship status.

“She’s single, she’s 43, she’s never been married,” he said of Crockett, who is actually 44.

“I’m trying to figure out what makes her tick. I think I can set her up with someone. I know a guy in D.C. — he’s white, hopefully that’s not a problem — but he will make her happy,” Watters continued. “And maybe then she will not hate everybody else besides herself so much.”

So, a few things:

First, in what world does Jasmine Crockett “hate everybody else besides herself?” Where does that even come from?

Just because Crockett is one of the few Democrats in Congress right now who’s willing to speak plainly about the “idiots” currently running the federal government, the GOP and their constituents doesn’t mean she hates everyone indiscriminately, especially when those same idiots have taken shots at her intelligence, called her “ghetto” for defending herself, falsely accused her of trying to portray herself as “hood” and “gangsta,” challenged her to a physical fight, and made inappropriate comments about her personal appearance on the House floor.

Meanwhile, MAGA conservatives like Watters appear to hate Black women, Black activists, immigrants, Muslims, liberals, Democrats, LGBTQ folks and the rest of the ubiquitous “woke.”

In fact, when Watters started talking about Crockett’s marital status and whatever (probably imaginary) white friend he wants to set her up with, it was in response to Crockett criticizing the Trump administration’s cruel, Constitution-defying immigration policies as well as President Donald Trump’s consistently hateful, bigoted and dehumanizing attitude towards immigrants.

The haters who hate everyone who is not like themselves are in the White House, at MAGA rallies and on Fox News. Watters is just out here projecting.

Also, I’m pretty sure he’s actually his white friend in D.C. who wants to get all up in Crockett’s DMs.

I mean, come on, Watters, “I’m trying to figure out what makes her tick” is basically the catalyst of every ’80s and ’90s rom-com ever. You don’t need to make up some fictional friend just to shoot your shot, bro.

Even if Watters’ friend—who is presumably age-appropriate for Crockett and yet also unmarried—is real, he has to be the kind of white guy who would tell the congresswoman, “You’re pretty for a colored girl.”

Watters’ imaginary white friend (who is probably himself) definitely has slavery roleplay fantasies and asked a Black girl out to his high school prom by holding up a sign that read, “If I was Black, I’d be picking cotton…but I’m white so I’m picking you!”

Look, I get that single MAGA men are having a rough go of it on dating sites, but that’s no reason to make it a Black woman’s problem. Go holla at the 53%.

On a serious note, Watters was, as usual, being disgusting, and, according to experts, he and his ilk are compensating for their own inadequacy when they make remarks like these about women like Crockett.

From HuffPost:

Kari J. Winter, a professor of American studies at the University at Buffalo whose expertise includes gender, feminism, race and class, said that Watters targeting Crockett — who often faces racist and anti-Black attacks online — just proves one thing about a lot of her critics:

″[They] target her with racist, misogynistic hate speech not only because they embrace sexist white supremacist values, but also because they are desperate to avoid responding to her points and policies,” she said.

“Trump’s anti-immigrant actions are illegal and unconscionable. What can his sycophants say? They have nothing. Therefore, they are 100% focused on riling up rather than informing their audience,” Winter said. “They throw out every vile, outrageous insult they can think of in order to steal our attention away from the Trump administration’s alarming, illegal, democracy-undermining actions.”

Winter added that Crockett is “whip-smart, courageous and eloquent” and that the congresswoman “understands that a just legal system is the foundation of democracy.”

Monica Cwynar, a licensed clinical social worker with Thriveworks, who specializes in trauma and coping skills, said that as a Black therapist, she believes “personal attacks, especially against women of color like Congresswoman Crockett, detract from the real issues at hand and reflect entrenched sexism and racism in our public discourse.”

“Such remarks are not only unproductive but also deeply harmful, as they overshadow important policy discussions and contribute to a culture where personal denigration is prioritized over substantive critique,” she continued.

Cwynar said that comments like Watters’ work to diminish “the voices of women in politics” and reinforce “damaging stereotypes.”

And even if Watters made the remark about Crockett in jest, making those types of comments about a woman’s relationship status — especially in a public forum — “reinforces harmful societal norms” and “perpetuates a misogynistic narrative that suggests [a woman’s] worth is tied to having a man in their lives,” Cwynar said.