Jesse Watters was so intent on lionizing an anti-immigrant protester, he either deliberately covered up or somehow missed the guy’s itrue dentity and history of violence over a grilled cheese sandwich.
We have previously noted Fox’s network-wide exploitation of the murder of Georgia student Laken Riley, allegedly by an undocumented immigrant. In this case, Watters wanted to celebrate protesters’ repeated interruption of a press conference by Athens-Clarke County Mayor Kelly Girtz.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has the facts:
For roughly 20 minutes, Girtz attempted to outline public safety investments and counter Republicans who have criticized immigration policies at the federal and local level in the wake of last Thursday’s death of nursing student Laken Hope Riley on the University of Georgia campus.
…
Around a dozen demonstrators were present. They held signs that read “blood on your hands” and “justice for Laken.” Some often shouted over Girtz as he tried to speak.
“I was a high school teacher for 22 years, and I got better behavior out of them,” Girtz said at one point, referring to the demonstrators.
One of those demonstrators was identified as Athens resident James DePaola. He told the AJC, “We the people are tired of this lawlessness” and “We are being put last.”
That’s a load of MAGA BS. The AJC pointed out that unauthorized documents are less likely to be arrested for violent crimes than U.S.-born citizens, that there have been few murders in Athens-Clarke County and that crime dropped in 2023 from the year before. The UGA campus where Riley was a student had not seen a homicide since 1996.
Not surprisingly, DePaola’s antics made him a hero to Jesse Watters and Fox News. But on Fox News, DePaola was identified as “James Lee.” Kudos to Media Matters for figuring out that James Lee is almost certainly James Lee DePaola. You can read about their detective work here.
More importantly, Media Matters found out why Watters and Fox may not have wanted viewers to know DePaola’s true identity:
[B]efore advising Fox News on immigration policy, DePaola was previously best known for violently threatening his wife after deciding that she had used too many slices of cheese on his grilled cheese sandwich, leading to his young daughter calling the police. As Time reported in 2016:
A man wanted just two slices of cheese on his sandwich, so when his wife used three slices in his grilled cheese sandwich, he became irate.
Angered at the sight of all the extra cheesiness, James DePaola became agitated and violent, yelling at the woman, Michele DePaola.
According to WSB-TV, DePaola then ripped the landline out of the wall so his wife couldn’t call the police and reportedly screamed at her intensely. The couple’s 12-year old daughter who witnessed the incident called the police to the scene, according to Athens-Clarke County police.
On his show, Watters likened Lee/DePaola to Rick Santelli whose rant against Obama policies is credited with starting the Tea Party. “You did that today,” Jesse Watters slobbered. “With the sanctuary BS, you did that, your voice did that. And it was a voice that was heard loudly around this country. So, I want to thank you for raising your voice.”
Watters could not be bothered to inform viewers about the low crime in Athens-Clarke County nor the truth about immigrant/citizen crime rate, much less Lee/DePaola’s full name. Of course, there was no mention that Republicans killed a very tough, bipartisan border security bill because Donald Trump told them it would be bad for his electoral prospects.
But Watters made a point of painting his guest as a family man who might just be in the same shoes as Riley’s father at any moment.
WATTERS: So you're a father - you have four daughters one son. You just have a young girl murdered in cold blood by a criminal alien who never should have been in this country, bailed out time and time again.
LEE/DEPAOLA: By the way, two miles away.
WATTERS: How do you feel as a Dad?
Watters smiled in approval as Lee/DePaola said that if it had been his daughter, the mayor “would have had a black eye walking out of there.”
After Watters thanked Lee/DePaola for being the anti-immigrant version of Rick Santelli, Lee/DePaola said, “I want to thank you, Jesse, for allowing us to have a voice and you don't get the credit you deserve as a patriot and a real journalist.”
One other thing I’d like to mention: In a recent post on Crooks and Liars, I noted that retired federal conservative judge Michael Luttig, who was an adviser to Vice President Mike Pence, said that revolution is “the intellectual underpinnings of the MAGA movement.” He added, “And they compare what they are about, those people, to the revolution that we had in 1776.”
Sure enough, so did Lee/DePaola. After thanking Watters and praising him as “a real journalist,” the guest said, “And I would just like to say this, Jesse: The motto of the American Revolutionary War is the secret to our success in America. And that motto was no king but King Jesus.”
“All right, God bless,” Watters replied.
This is far from the first time Fox has deceptively presented its guest(s). You can watch this instance below, from the February 28, 2024 Jesse Watters Primetime, via Media Matters.