It's not every day that your mom calls you on national television during your first live segment. As it happened last night, Fox News host Jesse Watters got a quick yet adorable call from his mother on the very first night of his show on the network after replacing Tucker Carlson in a primetime slot.
“Congratulations, honeybun. We are so proud of you and your accomplishments... Now, let’s aim to have you keep your job. And to that end, I do have some suggestions,” millions of TV viewers heard the mother saying. “Do not tumble into any conspiracy rabbit holes. We do not want to lose you and we want no lawsuits, OK?”
Earlier this year, Fox News terminated Carlson, one of the most famous American conservative political commentators, who had been their regular 8pm host, following the network's agreement to pay a legal settlement of $787.5 million to Dominion Voting Systems. The lawsuit filed against the company claimed that the host, along with other Fox News personalities and guests, had propagated false statements and conspiracy theories concerning the 2020 presidential run, particularly the usage of voting machines which Donald Trump wanted to secretly seize in order to overturn the election.
Last night, Fox News host Jesse Watters got a call from his mother on live TV asking him not to go down the same path his predecessor Tucker Carlson took
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Image credits: JesseBWatters
“Do not tumble into any conspiracy rabbit holes. We do not want to lose you and we want no lawsuits, OK?” Watters' mom said
Image credits: JesseBWatters
Image credits: JesseBWatters
Image credits: JesseBWatters
You can watch the brief yet adorably embarrassing interaction below
Jesse Watters became the new host of the Fox News primetime slot after its previous host Tucker Carlson, an American conservative pundit, was fired for bogus claims on the 2020 presidential election
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Image credits: jessewatters
In contrast to Carlson, Watters has been a loyal part of the Fox company, moving up in the ranks for more than 20 years
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Of course, as you and people in the Twitterverse might have guessed, Watters wasn't totally shocked to hear his mother phone in on live television during his debut as Carlson's replacement. According to the Independent, his mom "has sent critical text messages to [him] since 2017, when he became co-host of The Five," the popular panel talk show. It even became a running joke when producers introduced a segment called 'Mom Texts' in which Watters read his mother’s chiding texts to him in front of every Fox News viewer.
Meanwhile, to grasp the significance of Tucker Carlson, the former host of the Tucker Carlson Tonight show, parting ways with Fox News, it's essential to delve into the Dominion Voting Systems' defamation suit. Dominion alleges that Fox News promoted baseless stories, including the false claim that the company originated from associates of Hugo Chávez—Venezuela's former leftist President who passed away in 2013—and that its purpose was to rig elections.
"The 'Venezuela lie,' as the suit refers to it, involved cash being funneled to Dominion from Cuba and China, so that its machines could deny Trump the White House," the New Yorker explained in March. Since then, Fox News settled with a $787 million settlement over false election claims, terminating Carlson and others who took part in spreading the conspiracy from the network in its wake.
Turns out, the growing prevalence of conspiracy theory acceptance among people is not without reason
Mind-boggling conspiracy theories, however, are not that new of a phenomenon. Particularly to those who have closely followed Trump's fan base from a safe distance (or been to the belly of the beast themselves). Compared to the "rigged election" conspiracy, then, the infamous QAnon conspiracy which claims that the world is run by a cabal of lizard pedophiles and Trump is the one and only leader of the free world blows it out of the water. You might be surprised to hear that more than half of Republicans believed the theory is "partly" or "mostly true" back in 2020, according to a study by Daily Kos/Civiqs poll.
In order to understand why people fall for conspiracy theories, Bored Panda spoke with Karen Douglas, Professor of Social Psychology at the University of Kent, where she also leads the 'CONSPIRACY_FX: Consequences of conspiracy theories' project. She tells us that most people fall for a conspiracy when psychological needs, such as getting a grasp of what's actually going on in the world, are disturbed.
"The first of these needs is epistemic, related to the need to know the truth and have clarity and certainty," Douglas explained in an email. "The other needs are existential, which are related to the need to feel safe and to have some control over things that are happening around us, and social, which are related to the need to maintain our self-esteem and feel positive about the groups that we belong to." It's no surprise, then, that QAnon and other anti-vaccine theories spread like wildfire when the pandemic hit the world in December 2019 and there weren't many bullet-proof answers to begin with.
What role does the internet play in conspiracy theories, then? Well, according to Douglas, "conspiracy theories are much easier to find with the increase in social media use, but it seems that the effect depends on who goes looking for them." Or as she explained in the Conversation, these theories do not spread randomly across the internet but tend to circulate within specific communities that already share similar beliefs. For instance, someone who firmly believes in a 9/11 inside job conspiracy is likely to engage with like-minded individuals in online groups, reinforcing their shared views. On the other hand, individuals who do not hold these beliefs are less inclined to participate in such communities or promote their content.
Meanwhile, for those who share the same household and daily family dinners but not the same perception of the world, things can get complicated. The most important thing, Douglas says, is to be open-minded. "It builds understanding with the person. Listen carefully, and avoid defending your own beliefs," since being on the offense might backfire and make someone who believes in anti-vaccines or rigged elections sink into the rabbit hole even further.
No surprise, then, that people online adored the unexpected call from Watters' mom more than the show itself
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