The ex-wife of second gentleman Doug Emhoff is coming to the defense of Vice President Kamala Harris following controversial comments about her by Fox News host Jesse Watters.
The 46-year-old television personality received widespread criticism after suggesting that the generals would “get away with it” with Harris in the situation room if she were elected president.
“There are a lot of things to worry about, but Kamala being mistreated in the crisis room is not one of them,” Kerstin Emhoff wrote in a post on X.
Emhoff has been a fierce defender of the vice president, who has been married to her ex-husband since 2014, after her first marriage ended in 2009.
Kerstin Emhoff with her ex-husband Doug Emhoff and their daughter Ella. Doug Emhoff is married to Vice President Kamala Harris
Watters made the outrageous statement while discussing the topic of foreign policy during his Monday appearance on The Five.
“What is her foreign policy?” the Fox host asked. “This is where the commander in chief has the most influence. We don’t know who she is. We don’t know what she believes.”
“She will be paralyzed in the situation room while the generals do whatever they want with her,” he continued.
Watters’ own co-hosts seemed taken aback by his crude suggestion.
“Jesse Watters,” co-host Dana Perino chided. “I don’t like that. Take it back.”
Doug Emhoff’s ex-wife responds after Fox News host Jesse Watters made controversial comment that generals will “do whatever they want with” the vice president if she is elected
“What is your foreign policy?” the Fox host asked Harris.
Watters, who also hosts Jesse Watters Primetime, shook his head.
“figuratively,” he added quickly.
“Let them do whatever they want with her. Let them control her,” the Fox host continued. “Not in a sexual way,” Watters said.
In the background, co-host Greg Gutfeld appeared to be laughing.
Watters tried to downplay the awkward moment and get back to the point he was trying to make about Harris’s foreign policy.
«Ukraine is invading Russia and they are going to have her as commander in chief?»
Despite Watters’ attempt to move on from the gaffe, viewers were left stunned by the Fox host’s choice of words.
Several users called for the Fox News host to be fired for it, calling his comment appalling, misogynistic, sexist, disgusting and repulsive.
Watters made the controversial comment while discussing foreign policy during Monday’s edition of The Five.
American journalist Yashar Ali posted a clip of the moment and wrote: “Would Watters use this sexualised language when describing a straight man? Probably not!”
One person responded in the comments section: “A classic misogynist. He got called out and you can see him smiling. He didn’t say it innocently. He meant it that way.”
Someone else wrote: ‘Another day, another example of Jesse Watters’ sexism and misogyny.’
However, other viewers protested, saying the presenter did not intend for his statement to appear sexual.
“He said immediately afterward that he didn’t mean it sexually,” one onlooker said.
Watters tried to downplay the awkward moment and return to his main point: Harris’s unsophisticated foreign policy.
“You saw him. So you know he said he had no sexual intentions, why are you going there?” another asked.
At Fox, Watters first became known through his work on The O’Reilly Factor, where he appeared in a recurring segment called Watters’ World.
In 2023, after Fox fired Tucker Carlson from the network, they hand-picked the rising star to fill the coveted 8 p.m. slot.
In late July, Watters sparked controversy after saying that women who vote for Kamala Harris have “mommy issues” and men who vote for her will turn into women.
“Vote for a woman just because she’s a woman?” he asked during an episode of The Five.
“Either it’s a childish attitude or that person has problems with his mother or is simply trying to be accepted by other women.”
The Fox host went on to make a joke about what happens to men who vote for women.
“I heard the other day that scientists said that when a man votes for a woman, he actually becomes a woman,” Watters said.