OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham appeared on Fox News to speak to host Jesse Watters and things got heated between the two men. Graham was on the show to say he opposed the RESTRICT Act which would ban TikTok in the United States but Watters did his homework on the legislation, which showed that the senator co-sponsored it.
“The federal government wants to watch everything you do on the internet. And I mean anything: Any transaction, any search, any click, any scroll,” the host said, “the bill doesn’t even say the word TikTok.”
“Yeah, I don’t think I support the RESTRICT Act,” the senator said.
“You don’t support this? Cause you were named as one of the supporters, cause this is garbage,” the host said.
“Is this the one with Jo- There’s two bills out there. One allows a review of businesses that are connected to China, gives the secretary the ability to protect our data. Is that the RESTRICT Act?” the senator said.
“We got S. 686 right here, March 7, and we got a bunch of Republicans supporting it. Because this thing is crazytown. You don’t want the government looking into your private phone! If they have a hunch you’re colluding with the Russians? You remember how that turned out,” the host said.
“Yeah, well no, the Constitution trumps a statute so let me come back and give you a better explanation. Here’s the probelm as I see it. China is the parent company of TikTok and my nieces like TikTok. I don’t mind them using TikTok, I just don’t want the Chinese government to seize all their data and manipulate the information Americans see for political purposes,” the senator said.
“China is helping drug cartels in Mexico. China is not a friend, Chinese espionage is at an all-time high against American business interests. So I want to push back against China, but within a constitutional framework, you’re right about that. So, you’ve made these allegations, and I’ll come answer better next time,” he said.
“Yeah, well I mean, cause Congress.gov, you’re listed as one of the cosponsors of this thing. Maybe it’s like [Senator John] Fetterman when your chief of staff does all your work for you,” the host said to the senator. “Go back and talk to these other senators about this.”
“This thing is nuts and it’s gonna get abused like it always does, so we gotta clean this up,” he said.
The senator said he owed a “better explanation” but defended the legislation “[Senate Minority Whip] John Thune‘s got… to make sure the Secretary of commerce can deal with this, not just TikTok.”
“Don’t push back on the United States’ citizens for something China’s doing,” the host said.
“I totally get that and constitutionally we can’t do all of the things you just said, so let me get back with you, but just let me end with this,” the senator said before the host cut him off.
“Yeah get back with me because you cosponsored it two days ago, Senator,” he said.
YIKES — Jesse Watters asks Sen. Lindsey Graham why he is co-sponsoring the “RESTRICT Act”, he says he doesn’t support it and then Watters torches him:
“Maybe it’s like Fetterman where your Chief of Staff does all your work for you” 🔥
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) March 29, 2023
Watters is frustrated with the fact that it appears no matter what people do against conservatives there is rarely punishment. During a segment on Fox News, Watters went nuclear on the lack of Democrat bureaucrats and officeholders who have been arrested.
The panel discussed a hearing on the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government as Republicans want to prove that the government has been targeting conservatives.
A fed-up Watters did not hold back and demanded Republicans actually “do something.”
“And no one’s even talking about it! You wanna know why? Because everybody already knows that! Everybody already knows all of this stuff! So, what is the endgame here? We get screwed, then we have a hearing. Nothing happens. We get screwed again. We have a hearing. Nothing happens.”
“So, we have an FBI dictatorship here. You either fire him and die or you can’t touch him and you still die. I’m sick of these hearings,” Watters said. “Make me feel better, guys. Tell me this is going somewhere. Can I throw someone in prison? Can someone go to jail, Can someone get fined?”
“Just very quickly,” his Democrat co-host Jessica Tarlov said. “You guys got the Durham investigation, which was supposed to blow the lid off–”
“Exactly!” Watters interrupted.
“–and it ended up with nothing because there is nothing,” Tarlov said.
“Stop!” Watters said. “You guys admitted you planted the [Steele] dossier!”
“What?!” Tarlov said.
“You admitted you framed him as a traitor and you want to investigate our investigation? We’re investigating the investigators!” he said.
“We don’t live in the same world. It’s just crazy,” the liberal co-host said.
“Exactly, your world’s fake,” Watters insisted.
“My world is winning,” Tarlov said.
“We’re following the facts!” Watters said.
“We are winning,” Tarlov needled.
“You guys are corrupt. You robbed my vote!” Watters said before co-host Greg Gutfeld said, “This is the best” and Tarlov shouted, “You voted in New York!”
“What are you talking about?! Go to break! Judge, tell ’em to go to break!” a frustrated Watters said to end the segment.
