OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Another segment on Fox News’ popular “The Five” program grew somewhat chaotic as co-hosts on the left and right engaged in verbal combat over a discussion regarding Vice President Kamala Harris.
The debate involved whether black Americans do or don’t support Harris and allegations she “slept with” former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown.
At one point, liberal co-host Jessica Tarlov noted, “There is something crucial that Republicans keep doing that is a major turnoff to the black community, and that’s insulting Kamala Harris. You don’t take someone so meaningful to that community and say she’s a diversity hire.”
That led co-host Jesse Watters to ask, “Can I speak for the black community for a second?”
“No!” she fired back, leading Watters to say he is one percent black.
“We have Johnny go out and speak to the black community two times a week, and they do not support Kamala Harris,” Watters said, mentioning a Fox News correspondent who works for his prime-time show. “Speaking very broadly there.”
“If you have one of the highest achieving black women in the country who’s now made it to the vice presidency, and Republicans and people who talk about her on-air say she’s a diversity hire, she only got where she was going because she slept with Willie Brown,” Tarlov countered.
The rest of the panel then responded abruptly, with both Watters and co-host Greg Gutfeld exclaiming, “She did!? I didn’t know that!” Watters asked loudly, “She slept with Willie Brown!?”
“Is that not true?” Tarlov said, which then prompted Watters to say, “I didn’t know that. Is that how she got ahead in politics?”
A very frustrated Tarlov then added, “No, of course not!”
“I love it when people accuse us of spreading rumors by actually citing rumors,” Gutfeld said to end the segment.
WATCH:
Since Harris became vice president, her former boyfriend and political mentor has made headlines for various reasons.
When Kamala Harris was a young prosecutor, a much older boyfriend treated her to trips to Paris and the Oscars as well as a BMW, which is believed to have been the catalyst for her meteoric rise in California politics.
The current vice president is well-known for having dated Democratic Party powerbroker Willie Brown in 1994 when he was the speaker of the California Assembly and she was 29, the New York Post reported.
“Over the course of the relationship, Brown gave Harris a BMW, she traveled with him to Paris, attended the Academy Awards,” and he even took her on a business trip to Boston, where he was meeting Donald Trump, according to the 2021 book “Kamala’s Way: An American Life” by journalist Dean Morain.
The Los Angeles Times referred to Harris Brown as Brown’s “frequent companion,” while the Chronicle referred to Harris as “the speaker’s new steady.” Their relationship was well-known in San Francisco.
As his term as speaker was coming to an end, Brown appointed Harris, who was then working for the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office, to the California Medical Assistance Commission.
The position paid $72,000 annually and required Harris to attend monthly meetings.
“Brown, 90, has also taken credit for helping in Harris’ meteoric political rise. Last week, he joined the chorus of prominent Democratic Party members who have already endorsed her for president before next month’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago,” the NY Post reported.
How 29-year-old Kamala Harris began an affair with powerful San Francisco politician Willie Brown, then 60 and married, who appointed her to two lucrative positions only to dump her after he was voted first black mayor of the cityhttps://t.co/e0jgaVk4LN
— Martin Walsh (@MWalshUS) July 31, 2024
“Yes, we dated,” said Brown, who was also a two-term mayor of San Francisco, in a 2019 opinion piece. “Yes, I may have influenced her career by appointing her to two state commissions when I was Assembly speaker. And I certainly helped with her first race for district attorney in San Francisco.”
