Fox News Vigorously Defends Jesse Watters After Fauci Calls for His Firing: ‘Kill Shot’ Remark Taken ‘Completely Out of Context’

Fox News is standing firmly behind Jesse Watters, after Dr. Anthony Fauci called for his firing on Tuesday morning.

In a statement, the network defended the co-host of The Five — arguing that the remarks Watters made at the Turning Point USA summit this past weekend regarding Fauci were wholly misinterpreted.

“Now you’re going for the kill shot. The kill shot with an ambush is deadly because he doesn’t see it coming,” Watters said. He then proposed a talking point and added, “Boom, he is dead! He is dead!”

Fox News said it reviewed the complete remarks and called it “more than clear” that Watters was speaking metaphorically when he used the words “kill shot,” and did not actually encourage violence against the infectious disease expert.

“Based on watching the full clip and reading the entire transcript, it’s more than clear that Jesse Watters was using a metaphor for asking hard-hitting questions to Dr. Fauci about gain-of-function research and his words have been twisted completely out of context,” Fox News said, in its statement.

Watters, in his remarks, was advocating for citizens — not just journalists — to “ambush” Dr. Fauci in public. with questions in the style of Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe, whose undercover hidden camera videos have been celebrated on the right.

Fauci, when asked about the Watters remark on CNN Tuesday, called for Watters to be dismissed from Fox News.

“That’s awful that he said that,” Fauci told CNN. “And he’s going to go very likely unaccountable. I mean, whatever network he’s on is not going to do anything for him. I mean, that’s crazy. The guy should be fired on the spot!”