The Atlantic

A Liberal Mom’s Critical Texts to Her Son, a Fox News Host

Jesse Watters regularly reads messages from his mother aloud on air, exemplifying a political rift present in many American households.
Source: Courtesy of Jesse Watters

Last February, on a Tuesday-evening television broadcast, the conservative political commentator Jesse Watters opined on several topics that reliably hold his attention and that of the other four panelists on the Fox News roundtable talk show The Five. He challenged a co-host who was questioning the usefulness of a border wall, called Brett Kavanaugh’s alibis when faced with sexual-assault allegations “airtight,” and belittled Democratic presidential hopefuls.

As the episode aired, Watters’s phone lit up with a series of text messages from an apparently incensed viewer: “I’m offended by a great many of your comments!” read one. “STOP YELLING AT JUAN,” read another, referring to Juan Williams, who is on the left side of the show’s political spectrum.

The sender was Watters’s mother, and it turned out that . After Watters referred to Elizabeth Warren as “Pocahontas” (something Donald Trump has often done), his mom admonished, “Do not name call and parrot Trump’s insults. That is beneath you.” The barrage of criticism

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from The Atlantic

The Atlantic4 min read
Your Phone Has Nothing on AM Radio
This article was featured in the One Story to Read Today newsletter. Sign up for it here. There is little love lost between Senator Ted Cruz and Representative Rashida Tlaib. She has called him a “dumbass” for his opposition to the Paris Climate Agre
The Atlantic5 min read
The Strangest Job in the World
This is an edition of the Books Briefing, our editors’ weekly guide to the best in books. Sign up for it here. The role of first lady couldn’t be stranger. You attain the position almost by accident, simply by virtue of being married to the president
The Atlantic8 min readAmerican Government
The Most Consequential Recent First Lady
This article was featured in the One Story to Read Today newsletter. Sign up for it here. The most consequential first lady of modern times was Melania Trump. I know, I know. We are supposed to believe it was Hillary Clinton, with her unbaked cookies

Related Books & Audiobooks