Count New York City’s Mayor Bill de Blasio among those offended by Fox News’ latest “Watters’ World” segment, which was filled with Asian stereotypes as correspondent Jesse Watters descended on Chinatown to get residents’ thoughts on the election.
The vile, racist behavior of Fox’s Jesse Watters in Chinatown has no place in our city. @FoxNews – keep this guy off TV.
— Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) October 6, 2016
The segment was similar to every “Watters’ World” segment, where he interviews people who don’t necessarily understand political or current events and playfully pokes fun at their responses to obvious questions. But this time, the segment was greeted with instant backlash after viewers were appalled by Watters riffing off of one Asian stereotype after another, from some people’s inability to speak English to learning karate and getting a foot massage.
Mayor de Blasio also retweeted similar sentiments from San Francisco mayor Ed Lee.
Our country was founded & built by immigrant communities. Let us not have their positive impact on the US be diminished by bigotry.
— Mayor Ed Lee (@mayoredlee) October 6, 2016
Watters, a Bill O’Reilly protege, issued an apology on Twitter in response to the backlash.
As a political humorist, the Chinatown segment was intended to be a light piece, as all Watters World segments are.
— Jesse Watters (@JesseBWatters) October 5, 2016
My man-on-the-street interviews are meant to be taken as tongue-in-cheek and I regret if anyone found offense.
— Jesse Watters (@JesseBWatters) October 5, 2016