Jesse Watters warns women should ‘be careful’ around testosterone-boosted troops: ‘wild animals'

Fox News host Jesse Watters warned jokingly that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s plan to screen troops’ testosterone levels could contribute to a culture of sexual violence in the military, and the network has said nothing about it since

“Yeah, I want these guys on it. But you know what's going to happen? The guys that don't need it are going to take it to triple boost, right?” Watters told fellow panelists on The Five. “And then they're gonna get out there, and women on base, you guys better be careful. Port calls women in Asia, you better be careful because these guys are gonna be wild animals, and you better watch out.”

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Watters chuckled while discussing the possibility of U.S. service members sexually assaulting fellow troops and civilians abroad. When another person on set suggested fellow commentator Dana Perino, who was sitting beside Watters, should have held his hand because he was getting worked up, Perino responded, “Yeah, but I don’t know that I would have.”

The U.S. military has long struggled with sexual violence, including assaults committed against women living near American bases in Okinawa, Japan. Such cases have caused international incidents, including during former President George W. Bush’s administration, when Perino served as White House press secretary.

Those incidents are part of a broader pattern of sexual misconduct within and around the military that has repeatedly drawn congressional scrutiny. The remarks immediately drew condemnation from other journalists

“A Fox host joking about US soldiers raping women. Well done Rupert Murdoch, well done,” posted Zeteo journalist Mehdi Hasan, name-checking the Fox News founder.

Related: Jesse Watters: A Primer on Fox News Star’s Racism, Transphobia

Watters has repeatedly sparked controversy with inflammatory remarks on Fox News. He has suggested that men who vote for female candidates will eventually transition into women and that men who vote for Democrats have “mommy issues.” He made his name at the network through racist “man-on-the-street” segments on “The O’Reilly Factor” before eventually taking over Tucker Carlson’s former prime-time slot after Carlson was fired.

During other on-air laughing fits, Watters has joked about the deportation of gay asylum-seekers and mocked LGBTQ+ people for buying guns amid rising reports of hate crimes.

Hegseth’s plan to screen the testosterone levels of all service members older than 30 has also drawn widespread online criticism. The Pentagon leader has suggested that supplementing troops with testosterone could be necessary to keep them at their “absolute best.” Hegseth has also ordered service members to remain below a maximum body-fat percentage of 26 percent and maintain a waist-to-height ratio of no more than 0.55.