Jesse Watters' Microphone Joke Controversy

Overview

Jesse Watters' Microphone Joke Controversy refers to the online backlash toward a joke uttered by Fox News co-host Jesse Watters, who made a quip about the way Ivanka Trump was speaking into a microphone in late April 2017. While many interpreted the comment as sexual innuendo, Watters claimed he was joking that she seemed like a radio DJ.

Background

On April 26th, 2017, Twitter user @yashar tweeted a video of Watters discussing Ivanka Trump's appearance at the W20 Summit in Germany during a segment on the Fox News program The Five, saying "I really like how she was speaking into that microphone" (shown below). Within 24 hours, the tweet gained over 3,700 likes and 2,200 retweets.

Developments

Watters' Response

Later that morning, Watters tweeted about the controversy, claiming he was making a comment about the way Ivanka's voice "resonates like a smooth jazz radio DJ" and that it "was in no way a joke about anything else" (shown below).^[1] That evening

That evening, Watters revealed he would be taking a vacation over the next several days with his family (shown below).

Online Reaction

That day, Redditor ziptnf submitted a post about the incident titled "Fox News Reporter Jesse Watters Made a Blow Job Joke About Ivanka Trump on Air" to /r/politics.^[2] The following day, Redditor sotiris_hangeul submitted another post about the controversy to /r/politics,^[3] which gathered upwards of 900 points (94% upvoted) and 160 comments in less than five hours. Also on April 27th, Twitter published a Moments page collecting tweets about the incident.

News Media Coverage

In the coming days, several news sites published articles about the online controversy, including USA Today,^[5] Fortune,^[6] Salon^[7] and The Hill.^[8]

Search Interest

Not available.

External References