Fox News host Jesse Watters reportedly fired back at co-host Jessica Tarlov on Wednesday after she jokingly referred to Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed as his “new boyfriend.”
“Are you gay-shaming me?” Watters asked during a playful exchange on “The Five.”
The back-and-forth came two days after Watters interviewed El-Sayed on “Jesse Watters Primetime.” The pair sparred for roughly 25 minutes over several issues, including immigration, health care and transgender athletes.
The contentious interview took an unexpected turn when Watters questioned El-Sayed about gender-affirming care for minors. El-Sayed responded by asking the Fox News host, “Are you circumcised?”
Despite their sharp disagreements, Watters acknowledged Tuesday that he found the Democratic candidate compelling.
“I like him. I don’t want to like him. I like him for some stupid reason,” Watters said on “The Five.”
Later Tuesday evening, Watters again discussed the interview during his own program.
“He’s not your typical stiff,” he said of El-Sayed.
The conversation continued Wednesday when Watters and fellow co-host Greg Gutfeld repeatedly joked about Tarlov “experimenting in college.” The word “experimenting” initially surfaced while the panel discussed remarks from Hillary Clinton, who described the rise of democratic socialist candidates as an “experiment” for the Democratic Party.
“My god, you guys are annoying,” Tarlov said before arguing that progressive candidates have been more effective than the Democratic Party’s center at addressing voters’ concerns.
“It’s about speaking to the concerns of the populace, and that is something that actually these candidates from the DSA or from the progressive left, like Jesse’s new boyfriend, Abdul, are doing a lot more effectively than the center of the party,” she said.
“Are you gay-shaming me?” Watters replied as Gutfeld laughed.
“I am gay-priding you every day, Jesse,” Tarlov responded. “I very much enjoyed the interview, and was sad that I missed circumcision day.”
The jokes continued later in the segment when Tarlov mentioned Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico.
“I think now he’s experimenting with heterosexuality,” co-host Lisa Kennedy Montgomery said.
“Don’t gay-shame Jesse,” Tarlov fired back.
Kennedy concluded the exchange by saying, “I celebrate whatever Jesse and James Talarico are doing in that upcoming interview.”
It remains unclear whether Talarico has any plans to appear on Fox News. Watters, however, has made clear that he would be willing to welcome El-Sayed back for another interview following their lengthy and combative first conversation.
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