Jesse Watters expresses doubts on midterm election results
The Fox News host stated he did not feel optimistic about Republican prospects before polls closed.
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
Fox News’ Jesse Watters has already tossed in the towel with an on-air admission about how he sees the midterm elections going before the polls even close (Getty Images)
Photograph: The Independent (US) (embedded from source)
What this story says
- Fox News host Jesse Watters stated on air that he did not feel optimistic about the midterm election results.
- Watters expressed concern that the Senate was "very much in play" and that Republicans might lose it.
- He told his co-hosts he did not believe they would receive $5,000 checks.
- Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that Fox News ratings were "way down (27%!)."
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 6 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. Coverage measured .
Trust
48/100
Craft
65/100
Hype
41/100
6 sources · methodology
Thin on the right so far
Only 1 of the 6 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated right.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
Fox News host Jesse Watters stated on air that he did not feel optimistic about the midterm election results. Speaking on Tuesday before polls closed, Watters said he felt like he was "about to play a game that I know I’m going to lose." He expressed concern that the Senate was "very much in play" and that losing it would constitute "getting hurt."
Watters also told his co-hosts that he did not think they would get their promised $5,000 checks. He cited an example of two white contractors who had not yet voted and lacked a plan, suggesting that if Donald Trump were on the ballot, these individuals would have voted.
Disagreement on election outcome framing
The Independent reported that Jesse Watters "tosses in midterms towel on air before polls even close." Raw Story stated that Watters "breaks bad news to Fox viewers: 'I don’t think we’re going to get our $5K'." Mediaite reported that Watters conceded, "'It’s Not a Red Wave!' Jesse Watters Concedes ‘Democrats Are Having a Good Night’."
What the coverage left out
None of the left-rated digests mention Donald Trump's Truth Social post about Fox News ratings being "way down (27%!)." The right-rated digest does not include Watters' specific comments about not feeling great about the midterms or his concern about the Senate being "very much in play."
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 6 times, most recently on 4 Nov 2026, 04:15, and will add the sides that appear.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
4 rated outlets
- The left-rated reports led on Jesse Watters' on-air admissions about the midterm elections. The Independent's full report quoted Watters saying, "I don’t feel great" and "I feel like I’m about to play a game that I know I’m going to lose." These reports also highlighted Watters' statement that the Senate was "very much in play" and his prediction that "we’re not going to get our $5,000 checks."
Centre
1 rated outlet
- The centre-rated report from The Hill focused on Jesse Watters' statement about the $5,000 checks. The digest noted that Watters and Karoline Leavitt "discuss GOP midterm prospects and Trump's $5,000 check pledge on Fox News."
Right
1 rated outlet
- The right-rated report from Fox News was a digest stating that host Jesse Watters "analyzes the major issues facing President Donald Trump as midterm election results roll in."
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Jesse Watters expresses doubts on midterm election results?
- Of the 6 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 67% are rated left, 16% are rated centre, 17% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Jesse Watters expresses doubts on midterm election results left or right?
- Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 6 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
- Is the coverage of Jesse Watters expresses doubts on midterm election results biased?
- Jesse Watters expresses doubts on midterm election results is one event reported by 6 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting Jesse Watters expresses doubts on midterm election results?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated right had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered Jesse Watters expresses doubts on midterm election results?
- 6 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- What did Jesse Watters say about the midterm elections?
- Jesse Watters stated on air that he did not feel great about the midterm elections and expressed concern that the Senate was "very much in play." He also mentioned that he did not think they would get their $5,000 checks.
- What was Donald Trump's reaction to the coverage?
- Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that Fox News ratings were "way down (27%!)." He also made critical comments about a Fox News host, Jessica Tarlov.
- What example did Watters give of potential voters?
- Watters cited an example of two white contractors who had not yet voted and lacked a plan. He suggested that if Donald Trump were on the ballot, these individuals would have voted.
Read it at the source
6 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
4- Jesse Watters breaks bad news to Fox viewers: 'I don’t think we’re going to get our $5K' (opens Raw Story in a new tab)
- ‘It’s Not a Red Wave!’ Jesse Watters Concedes ‘Democrats Are Having a Good Night’ (opens Mediaite in a new tab)
- Fox News star Jesse Watters tosses in midterms towel on air before polls even close (opens The Independent in a new tab)
The Independent — is The Independent biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Fox News star Jesse Watters tosses in midterms towel on air before polls even close (opens The Independent (US) in a new tab)
The Independent (US) — is The Independent (US) biased? Our profile of this outlet
Centre
1Right
1Not rated
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
How did this read?
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