Fox News host Jesse Watters has railed against an ABC reporter who asked Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman about the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Watters’s furious rant comes after the Saudi prince visited the White House in his first state visit since the assassination of the journalist.
The ABC reporter asked how the U.S. could trust the Saudi government after “U.S. intelligence concluded you (the crown prince) orchestrated the brutal murder of a journalist.”
Trump, in turn, branded her a “terrible reporter” and claimed that the Saudi leader “knew nothing” about the killing.
Watters’ rant came shortly after the verbal bust-up in the Oval Office and saw him point out a supposed hypocrisy in the reporter’s question.
“Does ABC know their parent company, Disney, just built a Disney mouse castle in Riyadh? So Bob Igor could do business with the prince but Trump can't? And just wait until ABC finds about our allies like Mexico and Iraq and the Philippines, just to name a few,” he seethed on his show Jesse Watters Primetime.
“They're not squeaky clean. Obama hosted Xi Jinping for a steak dinner.”
“That guy doesn't like a general, he just kills them. Where's ABC on that? China killed a million Americans,” his rant continued. “Trump called it the China virus, and ABC said Trump was being mean. The Saudis have been giving us oil, bases, and intel and now a trillion bucks. Not a bad ally.”
After that, Watters made another, even more bizarre defense of the Trump administration.
“America was allied with Saddam Hussein for a while, even Stalin,” he added.
Watters then referenced a 20,000-square-foot pop-up park built by Disney in 2023 in Riyadh, which featured five areas inspired by the House of Mouse’s biggest films.
It featured a 30-meter replica of the castle on display at Florida’s Magic Kingdom theme park. Two years before it was built, Human Rights Watch slammed U.S. companies for working with to “whitewash” Saudi Arabia’s reputation.
“Saudi citizens and residents should enjoy top-notch entertainment and sporting events, but they also should enjoy basic rights such as free expression and peaceful assembly,” Michael Page, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch said.
“So, when Hollywood A-listers, international athletes, and other global celebrities take government money to perform in Saudi Arabia while staying silent on the government’s atrocious rights record, they are boosting the kingdom’s strategy of whitewashing Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman’s abuses.”
During the ongoing Saudi visit, Trump announced that the Middle Eastern country would be designated a “major non-NATO ally,” as he offered them even deeper ties with the United States’ massive military industry. The president claimed that the move was “very important” to Saudi Arabia.
Trump claimed that he kept the news a secret to surprise the prince, with whom he had signed a “historic strategic defense agreement.”
The president has often touted a close relationship with Saudi Arabia and has announced plans for two major construction projects, including Trump Tower Jeddah and the $1 billion Trump Plaza.
The president's defence of bin Salman was particularly effusive, insisting that many people “didn’t like Khashoggi,” who had written several stories about the Saudi government.
"You're mentioning someone that was extremely controversial," the president said. "A lot of people didn't like that gentleman that you're talking about.
“Whether you like him or didn't like him, things happen."
Trump also bizarrely claimed that reporters “don’t have to embarrass our guests,” before the crown prince said that the murder had been a “huge mistake.”
Bin Salman was treated to a gala dinner after the meeting, attended by soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, and will attend a major investment summit today.
