Jesse Watters is generally thought of as a Donald Trump superfan, so when he subtly called out the president’s golfing on the job, our eyebrows just about reached our hairlines. However, where some Fox News personalities would have gotten a serious tongue-lashing from the president, Watters seems to have walked away scot-free. 

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In case you missed the juicy on-air moment, during an April 2025 episode of “The Five,” Dana Perino brought up the fact that many Democrats were calling out Trump’s seemingly endless golf days amid chaos on the stock market. Perino turned to Watters to note, “Jesse, one of the things I cannot stand is complaints about golf,” according to Media Matters for America. Enter Watters’ surprising response. “If Biden was golfing during a stock market like this, I’m sure I wouldn’t say a word,” he said before giving a sarcastic smile. 

It was a bold move for Watters. After all, as we said, a number of Fox News anchors who have said anything untoward about Trump have found themselves on the receiving end of online taunts. Kayleigh McEnany and Trump famously fell out after the former press secretary read out incorrect polling numbers. Things got so bad that Trump gave his ex-employee a shady nickname (with an embarrassing spelling error, but we digress) on Truth Social. Trump has also gone after Jacqui Heinrich and Jessica Tarlov for criticizing his administration, labeling both of them “terrible” reporters. And yet, Watters’ comments were ignored. 

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Perhaps one of the biggest reasons why Jesse Watters didn’t incur Donald Trump’s wrath is that many didn’t see his comment as a jab at the president so much as a “nudge, nudge, wink, wink” moment. One user on X, formerly Twitter, said, “The smirk at the end says it all, ‘I know everything I say is a lie. I own the libs every day and I love other people’s misery.'” Another wrote that the entire exchange had them conflicted. “Mixed feelings when they humanize themselves for a moment. Relief that they know … anger that they can carry on like it’s a game,” they said. 

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It is worth noting that many others who weighed in on Watters’ comment didn’t even see it as a joke. In fact, a surprising number of X users seemed to believe Watters was genuinely suggesting he wouldn’t have said anything about Joe Biden if he had been the one racking up extensive travel receipts for golf outings. It’s certainly possible, then, that Donald saw the responses and opted not to say anything. After all, the comment riled up those opposed to him, so a win is a win, right? 

Of course, there is another possible reason behind Watters’ making the joke and giggling swiftly along sans reprimand. As some may recall, back in 2017, Watters went on a golf day with Eric and Donald Trump Jr. and filmed it for “Watters World.” With that in mind, we wouldn’t rule out the possibility that the Trump family had seen the clip and found it hilarious. Either way, in case there is any confusion, Watters certainly would have had a lot to say about Biden’s playing golf amid a stock market disaster, and he’s well aware of it. 

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