Fox News host Jesse Watters and his guest, Buck Sexton, decried the FBI raid of Mar-a-Lago on Monday and portrayed the event as a brazen attempt by a weaponised Justice Department to thwart Donald Trump’s 2024 bid for office.
The pair made the comments on Mr Watters’s show, Jesse Watters Primetime, on Monday evening as news of the FBI raid broke via a statement from the former president. In his remarks, Mr Trump claimed that his residence was “occupied” by FBI agents.
Mr Watters claimed in interviews with Mr Sexton and Dana Loesch, former spokeswoman for the National Rifle Association, that the raid was tied to Donald Trump’s frontrunner status in the likely 2024 GOP field. Notably, the ex-president has not announced a run yet but is strongly hinting to the effect.
“He hasn’t announced it but everybody assumes that he is running. And this is after they went after his campaign with wiretaps,” Mr Watters said in his interview with Mr Sexton.
Mr Watters added separately in his conversation with Ms Loesch that the actions of the FBI would “enrage the country”.
Mr Sexton, co-host of the syndicated radio showThe Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show and a frequent Fox guest, took it a step further.
“This is almost like a preemptive coup,” he offered in his response to Mr Watters.
The right-leaning network was far from out of pace with the broad majority of the GOP as news of the raid spread. Republicans on Capitol Hill demanded investigations of the agency and some, like Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene, even vowed to defund it. Some suggested those involved be fired or “perp-walked” out of the government.
The issue has once again highlighed the divide between GOP members in the House, who have remained fiercely loyal to Mr Trump and were enraged by the news, and those allies of Senate GOP leadership who urged caution or avoided comment.
