THE SEVERAL AMERICAS: Jesse went with a four-letter word!

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2025

It was a dangerous word: At this site, we're inclined to cut some slack for people who are fated to comment, in real time, on some shocking public event.

In the current instance, we'd extend that courtesy to the Fox News Channel's Jesse Watters. On Wednesday, he authored the most ill-advised instant reaction to the announcement of the late Charlie Kirk's death.

Perhaps because of that mishap, Watters was absent from Fox last night.  On The Five, he was replaced by Brian Kilmeade. Three hours later, he was absent from his own program, Jesse Watters Primetime, with Kayleigh McEnany sitting in as guest anchor.

Maybe he felt he needed to take some time to recover from Wednesday's shocking event. Maybe his bosses made some such decision. At any rate:

On Wednesday's edition of The Five, it fell to Watters to offer comment in the immediate aftermath of the news that Kirk had lost his life. His commentary was perhaps unwise, but we think it was also instructive.

Below, you see part of what Watters said. (We join his remarks in progress.) We'll suggest that you pay special attention to his insistent, repeated use of a dangerous four-letter word:

WATTERS (9/10/25): ...We’re sick, we’re sad, we’re angry, and we’re resolute, and we’re going to avenge Charlie’s death in the way Charlie would want it to be avenged. He was such a beautiful boy, he was an American boy, and he was incredibly positive, he was full of energy, and life, and he made politics fun.

[...]

As Greg [Gutfeld] said, this hits differently, because Charlie was one of us. And Trump gets hit in the ear; Charlie gets shot dead. 

They came after Kavanaugh with a rifle to his neighborhood. They went after Musk’s cars. They just shot two Jews outside the embassy. 

Think about it! Scalise got shot, barely survived. It’s happening. We've got trans shooters. We've got riots in LA.

They are at war with us! Whether we want to accept it or not, they are at war with us! And what are we gonna do about it? How much political violence are we going to tolerate? And that’s the question we’re just gonna have to ask ourselves...

The gentleman continued from there, in a way which might sound vaguely threatening, or then again possibly not. To see video of Watters' full presentation, you can click here for Mediaite's report.

(For today, we're omitting one of the most striking parts of what Watters said—the part where he insistently said, two separate times, that Charlie Kirk, the "beautiful American boy," wasn't controversial. Is it possible that Watters really believes that? Does he know what the key word there means?)

We expect to review what Watters said in more detail next week. We don't think that this is the time—but for today, we will report this:

Again and again, Watters turned to a dangerous four-letter word—the dangerous four-letter word "they." It's paired in his presentation with the words "we" and "us"—two other dangerous words. 

Alas, poor Macbeth! Within the annals of human history, the use of those words has "lighted [us humans] the way to dusty [societal] death." Here's the way that works:

To Watters, it wasn't one disordered person who appear in Justice Kavanaugh's neighborhood. According to Watters, some undefined "they" did that!

According to the D.C. police, it was Elias Rodriguez, a 30-year-old Chicago man, who shot and killed two innocent people outside the Capital Jewish Museum. But according to Watters, it wasn't that one person at all! "They" are the ones who did that!

They they they they they they they, he said again and again. Within the corporate logic of the Fox News Channel, this presentation was drawn from a familiar playbook. To wit:

If one liberal or progressive commits some inappropriate act, it means that every liberal did it! It means that everyone in the Democrat [sic] Party did it!  

Also, similar acts by disordered people on the political or cultural right will, as if by rule of law, go completely unmentioned. Such actions must be disappeared. 

They shot Trump, and they shot Kirk. Forced to react on the spur of the moment, Watters instantly turned to this ancient construction.  It led him to expose his foundational belief:

They are now at war with us! What are we going to do about it?

At this point, let's be fair. It fell to Watters to react on the spot to the news of Kirk's death. Given time to compose himself, he might have said something different.

Given time to compose himself, he might have said something different—but then again, he probably would have done no such thing! The resort to the all-encompassing "they" is one of the most basic tools in the Fox News Channel tool box.

In our view, Watters belongs on a "cable news" program the way a fish belongs on a bicycle. We don't mean that as an insult. He might be well suited for something else, perhaps in the comedy.

That said, he's the most watched performer at the Fox News Channel when his daily spot on The Five is joined to his own nightly program. They they they they they, he now said. Some unspecified group known as "they" is now at war with "us!"

Long ago and far away, John Edwards ran for the Democratic presidential nomination. He ran on the theme of "the two Americas." 

Even then, there were more than two. Yesterday, we watched tape of the full hour of Wednesday evening's edition of The Five. We were struck by the way the four pro-MAGA performers on that show seem to live inside their own self-contained tribal world.

By now, there are quite a few Americas out there. On Wednesday, "Kennedy" and Watters and Perino and Gutfeld seemed to be hiding in one.

In that world, the late Charlie Kirk was "a beautiful American boy" who wasn't even controversial! More on that will come next week. Today still isn't the time.

Final point:

We feel sure that Brother Jesse could do much better than this. But if he did, would the Fox News Channel still be willing to pay him?

Where did that messaging come from? In yesterday's report, we discussed the peculiar messaging which seemed to be taking hold on CNN and the Fox News Channel as of Wednesday night. 

Based on evidence which seemed quite flimsy, we quoted three different law enforcement specialists, including CNN's John Miller, saying that the murder of Charlie Kirk seemed to be the work of "a professional"—someone who wasn't an "amateur."

We had forgotten a peculiar fact—that messaging seemed to start with Greg Gutfeld himself! Without any attempt at explanation, he floated the idea two separate times on Wednesday's edition of The Five. 

First, he floated the notion at 5:44. To see him do that, click here. He went there again at 5:52. To see that instance, click this.

By now, with the suspect under arrest, it seems abundantly clear that the presumed assailant was not a professional—not even in the slightest. Where in the world—where on earth—did that strange messaging come from? 

Where did that very strange messaging come from? We'll try to tell you next week.

Tomorrow: Governor Cox