El-Sayed spars with Jesse Watters on Fox News on immigration, Iran war: ‘Let me just answer the question’
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El Sayed Spars with Jesse Watters on Fox News
Provpnadvice.com – El Sayed spars with Jesse Watters in a Monday episode of “Jesse Watters Primetime” that quickly escalated from policy discussion into repeated interruptions and crosstalk. Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed sat down with the Fox News anchor and found himself on the receiving end of pointed questions about immigration enforcement, the February war with Iran, and his own race against Representative Mike Rogers. At least twice during the interview, Watters told the candidate to simply answer the question being asked.
Immigration Enforcement: ICE, INS, and the Crosstalk
The interview opened on the federal immigration apparatus. Watters pressed El-Sayed on whether he backed abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement outright. Instead of a direct yes-or-no, the candidate pivoted to a historical comparison, citing the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the predecessor agency whose functions Congress folded into ICE in 2003.
“We were able to enforce our immigration policies without shooting people in the face and the back of the head,” El-Sayed said.
Watters pushed back, arguing that INS had carried out the same operations ICE performs today, then interjected a question about the total number of undocumented immigrants in the country. El-Sayed, visibly trying to steer the conversation back to his point, fired back:
“I mean, to your point –– Jesse, Jesse, let me just answer the question. To your point, we had far fewer under INS … If you want to do that correlation, we have ICE now and we have far, far more undocumented people. So ICE is clearly not working.”
The candidate then shifted to what he framed as the practical concerns of Michigan households, noting that voters were asking how they would afford gasoline and groceries rather than debating the architecture of federal agencies. Watters accused him of dodging, and the back-and-forth continued for several more exchanges before the segment moved on.
The Iran War and the JCPOA Question
The interview’s second major arc turned to the war between the United States, Israel, and Iran, which erupted in February after joint U.S.-Israeli strikes killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Watters opened by asking whether El-Sayed was “glad the ayatollah is dead.” The candidate said he would “never defend the Iranian regime” but made clear he opposed the military campaign that followed.
El-Sayed invoked the Joint Comprehensive Plan on Action, the 2015 nuclear deal negotiated under President Barack Obama and abandoned by President Donald Trump in 2018. He argued the JCPOA had locked down nuclear nonproliferation more reliably than the post-war situation after what he called “the better part of six months” of active conflict.
“I understand selective memory about history, but we had a JCPOA that was well negotiated, that actually had nuclear nonproliferation far more securely than we have right now after having gone to war for the better part of six months,” he said.
Watters countered: “Yeah, I like the fact that the nuclear program is buried under a mountain of rubble.” El-Sayed fired back, questioning whether nuclear material simply vanishes when covered in debris.
“You understand that, like, nuclear material doesn’t just go away because you buried it under a mountain of rubble?” El-Sayed asked. “You understand they can still go back and bury it out, right?”
Watters replied that the United States was monitoring the site “from Space Force” and that anyone who dug up nuclear material would face a very loud consequence. The exchange underscored how sharply the two men disagreed on whether the February strikes achieved their strategic objectives or merely created new, unresolved risks.
Targeting Mike Rogers and the Michigan Race
Midway through the interview, El-Sayed turned his attention to his Republican opponent, Representative Mike Rogers of Michigan, who had not appeared on Watters’s program. The candidate characterized Rogers as avoiding a direct debate and suggested he was “ducking” the opportunity to face him on national television.
“Can we all agree that Mike Rogers is a beta?” El-Sayed said. “Can we all agree with that? He won’t even come on your show. He’s afraid of getting grilled.”
The remark, using internet slang to describe a man perceived as weak or ineffective, drew laughter from Watters and became a recurring refrain in the closing exchanges of the broadcast.
Frequently Asked Questions
What show did El Sayed spars with Jesse Watters appear on? The exchange aired on “Jesse Watters Primetime,” a Fox News program hosted by Jesse Watters, during a Monday broadcast.
What were the main topics of the interview? The conversation covered three broad areas: federal immigration enforcement (specifically the role of ICE versus its predecessor INS), the February war between the United States, Israel, and Iran, and El-Sayed’s Michigan Senate race against Representative Mike Rogers.
What is the JCPOA mentioned in the interview? The Joint Comprehensive Plan on Action is the 2015 nuclear agreement negotiated under President Obama that placed restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program. President Trump withdrew the United States from the deal in 2018. El-Sayed argued the JCPOA had provided stronger nonproliferation guarantees than the post-war situation.
Who is Mike Rogers in this context? Mike Rogers is the Republican representative from Michigan and El-Sayed’s opponent in the state’s Senate race. El-Sayed criticized Rogers for not appearing on Watters’s show to debate him directly.
