A Fox News clip is going viral in which Jesse Watters seemed to panic when his guest warned Russia may have infiltrated Mar-a-Lago to get to the state secrets Trump hoarded there.
The moment occurred during Thursday's edition of Jesse Watters Primetime, as Watters' interviewed former Washington Post reporter and international intelligence expert Ronald Kessler.
All was well until Kessler pointed out the obvious.
Given the top-secret nature of the documents former Republican President Donald Trump is known to have illegally stashed in his Florida residence, it's likely Russia sent spies to access them.
Watters immediately appeared to panic, blind-sided by his guest stating reality instead of flattering Trump, and launched into a grouchy disclaimer that Kessler's speculation is unverifiable and accusing the FBI of planting evidence.
See a clip below.
\u201cI\u2019m not sure they expected their own guest to say this\u201d— Acyn (@Acyn) 1661469403
Throughout the segment, chyrons at the bottom of the screen questioned whether the FBI had "bugged" Mar-a-Lago and asked "What is the FBI hiding?," making clear the intent of the segment was to impugn the integrity of the FBI and its investigation, not Trump's reckless disregard for national security.
Kessler—a diehard conservative who once worked at far-right propaganda network Newsmax and has frequently been criticized for an overtly partisan lack of journalistic rigor—would seem a perfect fit for this kind of segment.
But he apparently did not come to Fox News to play around on Thursday. Instead, he issued a sobering warning about the gravity of Trump's actions, pointing out the state secrets he mishandled have likely fallen into the hands of Russian spies while at Mar-a-Lago.
He told Watters:
"...[T]hese documents... could very well include the plans for counter-striking against Russia in the event of a nuclear attack... to prevent annihilation of the United States. That's one item that could be in these documents..."
"...So we're talking about incredibly valuable secrets that the Russians, of course, would have been after. The Russians would have been trying to penetrate Mar-a-Lago day and night and very possibly did recruit spies to obtain these documents."
It was at this point that Watters could tolerate no more.
After Kessler's audio earpiece appeared to have been cut-off so he couldn't respond, Watters interrupted him to tersely cast doubt on Kessler's credibility and to claim the FBI routinely plants evidence.
“Ron, you’re saying that they could be there. We have no idea if they’re there or not and we’ll never know."
"And at this point based upon all of your reporting and the report we just did at the top: You can't trust these guys. Because they lie and they plant evidence for a living!"
Oops.
Guess that's the last time they'll let Kessler on the show.
On Twitter, many were revolted by Watters' desperate attempt to protect Trump.
\u201c@Acyn Oh so now Jesse Watters, who has accused the FBI of planting evidence, doesn\u2019t like when people speculate?\n\nWatters is a feckless dirtbag.\u201d— Acyn (@Acyn) 1661469403
\u201c@Acyn According to this FOX news host, the FBI lies and plants evidence for a living? Name one time. \n\nTrump lied 30,000 times in 4 years, took top secret documents to his vacation place and FOX didn\u2019t, and still can\u2019t bear to report him. What a farce..\u201d— Acyn (@Acyn) 1661469403
\u201c@Acyn Because they lie and make up stories to fit their narrative. All Fake News. Entertainment Only.\ud83e\udd14\u2714\ufe0f\ud83d\ude02\u201d— Acyn (@Acyn) 1661469403
\u201c@Acyn "Wow, that is concerning that such highly sensitive secrets may have been targeted by Russian spies working to penetrate Mar-A-Lago." \u2014 What a patriotic American would have said\u201d— Acyn (@Acyn) 1661469403
\u201cWow. The anchor is once again doubting the FBI while not worrying about who might have seen the documents. Truly beyond belief - #sycophancyonsteroids\u201d— Martina Navratilova (@Martina Navratilova) 1661476903
\u201c@Acyn Gee, if you don\u2019t know whether foreign spies are able to access top secret documents, maybe they shouldn\u2019t be stored in the basement of a country club owned by a guy who has demonstrated his entire life that he looks out for his own interests first.\u201d— Acyn (@Acyn) 1661469403
\u201c1) Whomever booked this guest probably no longer has a job\n2) Allowing Watters' casual "you can't trust these guys (FBI) because they lie and plant evidence for a living" shows how the Murdock's are a clear and present danger to the United States\u201d— Les LeMieux, Sr (@Les LeMieux, Sr) 1661529835
Others couldn't help but laugh about this absurd spectacle.
\u201c@Acyn You know they\u2019re yelling at this guest in his ear to shut up lol\u201d— Acyn (@Acyn) 1661469403
\u201cDamn, @FoxNews can't seem to get guests that are "Treasony" enough.\u201d— Titus (@Titus) 1661474827
\u201cJesse didn't move or even blink for almost 40 seconds. I think his soul temporarily left his body.\u201d— skullsinthestars - Black lives matter (@skullsinthestars - Black lives matter) 1661485001
As for whether or not classified or top-secret documents of the type Kessler described could have been in Trump's stolen cache, the man himself admitted as such and justified it by saying he "declassified" them on his way out of the White House.
There's very little mystery here, not that Watters' viewers will notice.
