Fox News’ Jesse Watters said on his prime-time show Tuesday that he believes Jeffrey Epstein was a government intelligence asset.
QUICK FACTS:
- Fox News host Jesse Watters, who according to some is set to replace Tucker Carlson, appears to believe Jeffrey Epstein was an “intelligence asset” working for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
- “Epstein was meeting with the kind of people you’d think would steer clear of a convicted pedophile,” Watters said Tuesday night. “Jeffrey Epstein was meeting with one of Barack Obama’s top lawyers, Kathryn Ruemmler.”
- According to Watters, Epstein was also meeting with Joe Biden’s current CIA director, who was Obama’s deputy secretary of State at the time.
- “Today’s, director of the CIA went to Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse, where Epstein had sex with underage girls and where he filmed other men having sex with underage girls,” Watters said.
- Previously, Watters had claimed Epstein’s “suicide” was an example of “government incompetence at the highest level.”
- “What this is about it is about government incompetence at the highest level. This is the most high-profile, one of the richest, most relevant, politically connected individuals that you have in federal lockup right now,” Watters said in August 2019.
- “He has potential connections to some of the most distinguished and politically successful people in the world. We’re talking kings and princes and presidents. And they have one job: to keep him safe and monitor him, and it’s going to be a complete and utter failure.”
JESSE WATTERS ON EPSTEIN BEING AN “INTELLIGENCE ASSET” FOR THE CIA:
“It’s never been more clear: Epstein was an intelligence asset,” Watters said. “Not only was he working for the CIA, Israeli intelligence, maybe even Russia intelligence.”
BACKGROUND:
- According to data from Nielsen, Tucker Carlson’s exit from Fox News has led to a significant decline in the network’s prime-time ratings, with a 47% drop in viewership over the past week.
- The impact of Carlson’s departure extended beyond his own time slot, with other Fox News shows experiencing a drop in ratings.
- Hannity’s viewership decreased by 20%, averaging 2 million viewers, while The Ingraham Angle saw a 12% drop, attracting 1.56 million viewers, LA Times notes.
- In comparison, “Tucker Carlson Tonight” averaged around 3.2 million viewers during the first quarter of 2023.
- Although Fox News has yet to name a permanent replacement for the prime-time slot, according to The Hill, Watters is “the odds-on favorite to replace Carlson.”
