Republican Goes Scorched Earth on Fox News’ Jesse Watters

Texas Republican Representative Dan Crenshaw slammed Fox News‘ Jesse Watters on Wednesday over issues relating to members of Congress trading stocks.

In a post on his Instagram Stories, Crenshaw responded to a Fox News segment in which Watters is heard speaking about stock trading among lawmakers and said, “Hey you f****** hack, if you’re gonna accuse me of literal corruption, get your facts straight and man up and come accuse me to my face.”

“I literally have $10,000 invested in stocks, and haven’t made trades in over a year. I never had more than ~ $20k invested while in Congress. Fox knows this but they’re desperate for fake controversy to get clicks. Watters is a tool, making millions to push conspiracies on tv, and bash veterans like me who are barely a fraction of his net worth,” Crenshaw added in his post. “Wake up America. The political entertainment industry is almost always lying to you.”

In the clip shared by Crenshaw, Watters is heard speaking about stock trading among members of Congress and saying that Crenshaw “beat the market by 13 points,” and noting that lawmakers made more than $1 billion in “financial transactions this year.”

In a series of other story posts on Instagram, Crenshaw continued to criticize Watters including one that said “stop letting wealthy elitists like Jessye [sic] Watters claim to be ‘fighting for you.’ They live in Manhattan and can’t stand normal people in red states. They think you’re stupid and feed you bulls*** to rile you up.”

“Losers like Watters grew up with a silver spoon. His family is made up of well connected journalists and politicians. And for some reason, people are fooled into believing he’s some genuine blue collar conservative,” another post said, with Crenshaw claiming that Watters “cheated on his wife.”

Crenshaw also claimed in another post that Fox News canceled his scheduled interview following his attacks on Watters. However, a Fox source with knowledge told Newsweek that Crenshaw was never scheduled to appear on the network on Wednesday evening.

Newsweek reached out to Fox News via email for comment.

Over the past several months, members of Congress have faced backlash for involvement in stock trading, with some proposing legislation to ban it.

In September, Democratic senators Jon Ossoff of Georgia and Mark Kelly of Arizona announced the Ban Congressional Stock Trading Act, “which will require all members of Congress, their spouses, and dependent children to place their stocks into a blind trust or divest the holding — ensuring they cannot use inside information to influence their stock trades and make a profit.”

“The American people overwhelmingly support this policy, with 86% saying they back the measure, including 88% of Democrats, 87% of Republicans, and 81% of Independents,” the senators said in a press release.

Newsweek reached out to Crenshaw via email for comment.

Update 1/3/24, 3:22 p.m. ET: This story was updated with additional context.