Fox News host Jesse Watters sparked outrage this week after declaring he hopes there will never be a female president during his lifetime, prompting even his co-host Greg Gutfeld to suggest he was “jumping off a cliff” with his controversial remarks.
The firestorm erupted during Wednesday’s episode of “The Five” after the show aired clips of Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi and California Gov. Gavin Newsom. In an interview with MSNBC, the 86-year-old former House speaker suggested a female president was inevitable but likely wouldn’t happen in her lifetime.
Watters responded with a stunning pronouncement that left his fellow panelists visibly uncomfortable. He declared that he hoped there would be no female president in his lifetime, then launched into a series of provocative questions he attributed to unnamed sources, asking whether women possess the emotional maturity, business connections, or military respect required for the presidency.
Gutfeld attempted to intervene, telling the 47-year-old host, “You are just jumping off a cliff just because you’re bored.” But Watters continued, adding that many people claim women lack the sense of humor required for the presidency before insisting, “None of those things I believe.”
The Fox News personality then pivoted to attacking Democratic presidential frontrunner Gavin Newsom, suggesting the California governor “could be the first woman president” due to what Watters characterized as “emotional instability” and feminine traits. He accused Newsom of experiencing a midlife crisis and suggested the only reason Newsom is running for president is “to prove his worth to his father.”
The remarks drew swift condemnation from media critics. Guardian columnist Arwa Mahdawi noted that Watters commands an audience of roughly 3 million viewers for his primetime show, making his platform particularly influential. Nielsen ratings confirm that Jesse Watters Primetime regularly draws between 3 and 3.5 million viewers in its 8 p.m. timeslot.
The controversy comes as discussions about female leadership dominate political discourse. Axios reported Sunday that top Democrats are debating whether a straight, white, Christian man represents their best bet to win the 2028 election — a debate fueled by former First Lady Michelle Obama’s comments that America is “not ready for a woman” president.
This isn’t Watters’ first controversy involving sexist commentary. In 2024, he claimed then-Vice President Kamala Harris would be “paralyzed” in the Situation Room with military generals who would “have their way with her” — comments he later insisted were “figurative.” He has also suggested Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was not “ripe” for the presidency because she was not yet married with children, and mocked her for reporting sexual harassment.
On Monday’s episode, Watters doubled down on his Newsom attacks, saying the governor is “kind of like a woman trapped in a man’s body” who “changes his mind a lot” and is “always crying.” He based these assessments partly on Newsom’s emotional press conference last week where the governor cried while discussing young people’s civic engagement.
Critics on social media condemned the Fox host as a “repulsive little man” and “bobbleheaded fool,” with many questioning why he remains on air. Others noted the irony of Watters questioning women’s emotional maturity while President Trump manages ongoing international conflicts with Iran.
The incident highlights ongoing tensions at Fox News between its conservative male hosts and liberal contributors. Jessica Tarlov, the show’s lone liberal voice, has frequently clashed with Watters over his provocative statements. The network’s panel format often places her in direct confrontation with Watters’ more incendiary takes.
Watters’ mother, Anne Purvis — a child psychologist who identifies as liberal — has previously called into his show advising him to use his platform responsibly. Her critical text messages to her son became so frequent that producers created a recurring segment called “Mom Texts” where Watters reads her chiding messages on air. Her son has instead continued pushing boundaries with controversial takes, including suggesting America should bomb or gas United Nations headquarters after Trump experienced technical difficulties there last September, and claiming that men shouldn’t eat soup in public because it appears effeminate.
Stanford research published in February 2022 found that voter perceptions about female electability become self-fulfilling prophecies. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that when voters believe it’s too hard for a woman to win a general election, they vote for male candidates in primaries even if they personally prefer the female candidate. The researchers also found that providing evidence of voter support for female candidates increased willingness to back them by about 3 percentage points.
As the 2028 presidential race takes shape, Watters’ comments have reignited debate about whether America is ready for its first female president — a milestone that has eluded the nation despite multiple serious female candidates in recent cycles, including Hillary Clinton’s popular vote victory in 2016 and Kamala Harris’s historic 2024 candidacy.