Several panelists on Fox News’ “The Five” erupted on fellow co-host Juan Willaims after he refused to give President Donald Trump credit for implementing a ban on travel to and from China early in the coronavirus pandemic.
Foreign nationals who had recently been to China were banned from entering the United States in early February as a countermeasure against the coronavirus threat in Wuhan, a move many say slowed the contagion’s growth in the U.S.
However, when guest co-host Shannon Bream asked Williams if he would “give the president some credit” for the ban, he balked.
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“It wasn’t early, in fact it should have been earlier,” Williams said, which prompted guffaws and protests around the table.
“You were against it!” exclaimed co-host Jesse Watters.
After everyone kept talking at once, Bream told the panel they were “all getting technical fouls.”
Williams argued that Trump “had knowledge” that the general public didn’t have.
“When the president acted it was, again, not clear to everybody the extent, and we had people going from China, guess where, Italy, North Korea,” Williams said. “It’s just like what happened yesterday with, oh, not England, when, in fact, the cases are spiking in England.” (RELATED: Things Get Heated When Jesse Watters Asks Juan Williams To Apologize To Wrongfully Accused West Point Cadets)
“Juan, you’ve totally discredited yourself,” said Watters. “It’s over, it’s done. We don’t believe anything anymore because you will criticize no matter what he does and then pretend like what you said two months ago didn’t happen.”
Watters promised to “pull the tape” and “show everybody” Williams coming out against the ban.
The heated discussion continued until Bream ended it by promising to take things to “pay-per-view.”