Fox News host Jesse Watters has blamed his parents’ refusal to let him play with G.I. Joe toys for ultimately setting him on the path to becoming a primetime anchor on the network.
Watters made the remark during a segment on Jesse Watters Prime Time about masculinity, where he argued that Democrats had manufactured the concept of “toxic masculinity” as a political tool.
“Americans like watching men be men, competitive, tough, and violent,” Watters said after airing a 60 Minutes interview with UFC President Dana White. In that segment, the CBS interviewer had asked White if masculinity had gone too far.
After playing the clip, Watters then welcomed comedian Jimmy Failla, who also hosts Saturday Night with Jimmy Failla on Fox News. Failla dismissed the notion of toxic masculinity entirely.
“Toxic masculinity is a term Democrats invented to sell us on the idea of supporting the type of guys they nominate,” Failla said. “They’re losing young voters over this. Little boys, what do we fantasize about growing up? You want to be the hero. You want to save the day. So you’re going against the factory setting of pretty much every little boy out there who wanted to grow up and be the person who was able to step in.”
Watters agreed, then pivoted to his childhood. “And Jimmy, it backfires because my liberal parents wouldn’t let me play with G.I. Joe,” he said. “And you know what I did? I became a Fox host. You can’t fight it.”
“If they could have just gave you Cobra Commander, you might be on MSNBC right now, right?” Failla quipped in response.
GOP figures frequently mock Democrats for appearances or habits that don’t align with traditional masculine stereotypes. Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign adviser Jason Miller, for example, described Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as a “wildly gesticulating effeminate caricature” during a press call ahead of the vice presidential debate in October last year.
In a follow-up interview on CNN, he softened his characterization to “goofy,” but went on to say Walz was “not someone who comes across as this alpha male.”
Walz, Kamala Harris’ vice presidential pick in the 2024 election, was also targeted by Failla and Watters on the show. Failla said that “if you think toxic masculinity is bad, if you’re dumb enough to believe that, then you go, ‘yeah, maybe Tim Walz should be in charge.’”
Watters, who has faced accusations of wearing eyeliner, has also slammed California Gov. Gavin Newsom for not being manly enough. In August, while discussing Newsom’s attempts to counter Donald Trump’s strongman persona with a tough-talking approach of his own, Watters said, seemingly without irony: “[He has] two problems, big. Nancy Pelosi is his mentor. You never want to have a female mentor if you are a guy. It is obvious.
“Second, he is not strong enough. Americans want power. Democrats really want power. They want an FDR, a Trump, they want a Teddy Roosevelt. Someone to come in and knock heads together.”
