‘White Dude for Harris’ Takes on Jesse Watters, It Doesn’t Go Well [WATCH]

Fox News host Jesse Watters clashed Tuesday night with Mike Nellis, senior adviser to Kamala Harris, during a discussion on whether Chicago should accept assistance from the Trump administration to curb violent crime.

The exchange on Jesse Watters Primetime followed remarks from President Donald Trump, who said last Friday that he was considering deploying National Guard troops to Chicago after authorizing their deployment in Washington, D.C., on August 11.

Nellis opposed the idea, saying local leaders in Chicago should address the issue.

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“No, look, I think Chicago needs to do a better job of dealing with crime. Our local leaders need to do a better job of dealing with crime, but the city of Chicago has had a chance to vote for Donald Trump three times, and he lost by 80% each of the three times that he was on the ballot,” Nellis said.

“I think if Donald Trump wants to get involved heavily in issues somewhere else, he should go look at red states, because Donald Trump doesn’t have any urgency to deal with Louisiana, which is the murder capital of the United States. He doesn’t have anything to say about Oklahoma, which has the worst schools in the nation. Doesn’t have anything to say about Arkansas, which has the highest teen pregnancy rate—”

Watters interrupted.

“Those are crime ridden too! And if the mayor wants to invite Donald Trump to go in there and do it,” he said.

“Chicago’s a little bigger than Baton Rouge, Mike, OK? You live in Chicago, and you should care. Did you hear my friend out there in the monologue talking about her cousin, her uncle, her niece. They’re all dead, Mike! Do you care about that at all? Your mayor doesn’t care. Your mayor doesn’t want any backup. They’re offering them more cops, more guards. And he says, ‘No, more housing.’ What the hell’s wrong with him?”

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On Monday, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson held a press conference opposing Trump’s plan, with Johnson pointing to declining crime data.

According to Chicago Police Department statistics through August 16, homicides are down 25 percent compared to the previous year. ABC7 Chicago reported 474 homicides in the last 12 months, compared with an average of 722 homicides annually between 2021 and 2023.

Despite the decline, federal officials highlighted the city’s long-standing crime problems.

A White House release stated Chicago has had the highest “murder rate among U.S. cities with more than one million people” for seven straight years, and the “most murders of any U.S. city” for 13 consecutive years.

Nellis argued that National Guard deployment is not the answer.

“I know I’m not going to feel safe when I take him to a ball game. I’m going to see armed military members. There’s a way to do this,” he said.

“I’m happy to support having more police on the streets of Chicago to help keep us safe. The problem is in Donald Trump’s budget that he signed by the Republicans, he cut community police funding by $2 billion, which means there’ll be fewer police on the streets.”

Watters pushed back.

“All right, Mike, you guys defunded the police. So don’t talk about cutting funding, OK? Everybody knows the Democrats defunded. They defunded all over the country, Mike. I don’t have time to debate that. But I respect that you are from Chicago, and you want to be safe. But we are all in agreement that Chicago needs to do a lot better. You and I will agree on that.”

Trump’s decision to invoke Section 40 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act earlier this month followed a series of violent crimes in Washington, D.C., that drew national attention.

Incidents included the assault of a former Department of Government Efficiency staffer and the fatal June 30 shooting of Republican intern Eric Tarpinian-Jachym.

While Democrats and media outlets noted D.C. crime fell 35 percent in 2024, those figures did not include felony assault or aggravated assault.

In July, NBC Washington reported that Metropolitan Police Commander Michael Pulliam was under investigation for allegedly altering crime data in his district.

Public opinion surveys suggest voters back Trump’s actions.

A Harvard CAPS/Harris poll released Monday showed 54 percent of registered voters believe the president’s federal crime-fighting efforts in Washington are “justified and necessary.”

According to U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C., Jeanine Pirro, the federal initiative has so far led to 1,007 arrests and 111 illegal firearm confiscations.