Fox News personality Jesse Watters was called out for hypocrisy after he described the oustings of ABC News correspondent Terry Moran and Democratic National Committee (DNC) Vice Chair David Hogg as them having been "86'd"—just weeks after complaining about the term "86 47," which he sees as a clear call to assassinate President Donald Trump.
The term "86" means to eject, discard, or disprove of, and though it's said to have military origins, it's commonly used in restaurants when getting rid of unruly customers or when a patron has specific dietary restrictions. For example, saying "86 the mushrooms on the burger" means to prepare a burger sans mushrooms. Similarly, saying "86 the burger with mushrooms" means to not make the burger at all.
The term has garnered renewed attention since former FBI chief James Comey shared an image on social media of seashells on a beach arranged to resemble the numbers "86 47." Comey said he discovered the seashell arrangement during a walk on the beach and believed it to be a political statement. Critics, however, have argued the display was intended as a threat against Trump.
The term can also be used to refer to an ouster such as in the case of Moran, who was fired from ABC News after referring to Trump's senior adviser Stephen Miller as “a world-class hater" in a social media post. And it can also be used in reference to Hogg, who was pushed out of his DNC leadership role for vowing to primary members of the Democratic Party's old guard.
Of Moran's firing, Watters had this to say:
“ABC just 86’d Terry Moran for calling Stephen Miller a hateful bigot. This was probably the easiest thing ABC ever had to do.”
You can hear what he said in the video below.
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And of Hogg, Watters said:
"So this guy got 86’d because he’s white, he’s a guy and allegedly he’s straight,” Watters said Wednesday. “I don’t want to impose that on him. The Democrats say they learned a lesson last election, but you look at this and it doesn’t look like they learned anything.”
You can hear what he said in the video below.
And yet Watters was furious last month when Comey made the news for his alleged threat against the president, saying:
“He obviously was trying to put a hit out on Trump, got caught, deleted it. And he’s got a book out—oh, what a coincidence! Any cop, any prosecutor knows the code for homicide.”
You can hear what he said in the video below.
Watters was promoting a conspiracy theory at the time. While police codes for homicide differ by jurisdiction, “86” is not recognized by any known law enforcement agency as a code for murder. The most widely recognized code for homicide is California's “187,” popularized through West Coast hip-hop and crime films set in Los Angeles.
Watters was called out for his hypocrisy.
Just another day at Fox News.