While Fox News has never been the home of sane, balanced, decent reporting, you could say they sunk to a new low when anchor Jesse Watters chomped down on a steak while interviewing a vegan woman during an on-air segment about meat-eating and its connection to toxic masculinity. Anne DeLessio-Parson, a doctoral candidate from Penn State University, published an article in Journal of Feminist Geography in which she contends that eating meat reinforces gender stereotypes, and instead of taking her on with words, Watters decided to taunt her with beef instead.
- There’s nothing wrong with healthy debate. While it’s totally fair for Watters to take DeLessio-Parson to task on her assertions and challenge her points of view with his own, there’s a way to do it, and chomping down on steak while you look super smug and obnoxious is not the way to do it. He pretty much undermined his arguments and made himself look like an immature jerk in the process. Seriously, what a child!
- Then again, Watters is known for his gimmicks. Not necessarily the most serious of journalists, Watters loves pulling juvenile pranks and displaying ridiculous antics to try and get a rise out of his guests, completely negating any ability to take him seriously when it comes to anything that comes out of his mouth. I suppose, then, that this stunt shouldn’t have been a surprise!
- DeLessio-Parson does well not to rise to the bait. While she does fire back at Watters, remarking on the “dead cow” on his fork and asking “Did God tell you that?” she generally stays pretty cool, though it’s clear she’s completely put off and probably wishes she hadn’t bothered to appear on the show.
- Of course, some people thought it was hilarious. The sycophantic Fox News freaks all thought it was super funny that Watters taunted a vegan woman with a steak, but not everyone was impressed. Many people pointed out how ridiculous the act was and chastised him for his behavior online. Something tells me that won’t stop him anytime soon.
The right wing seems to think that being a horrible disgusting person as offensive as humanly possible is a ‘good thing’ — They really seem to strive on it. https://t.co/sH414Vrqhk
— Veritas (@Veritas_83) June 3, 2019
I have some vegetation friends and they’re not uptight and can handle a joke. This is juvenile, a bit crass and absolutely hilarious!!! https://t.co/P44iHvK8MN
— Best NJ Clean (@BestNJClean) June 5, 2019
