UNITED NATIONS — Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said Friday, Sept. 26, 2025, that Fox News host Jesse Watters apologized for his comments suggesting that the UN should be “bombed.”
Watters made the remarks Tuesday, Sept. 23, during his program Jesse Watters Primetime while discussing US President Donald Trump’s address to world leaders at the General Debate of the 80th UN General Assembly. The comments followed Trump’s technical difficulties with an escalator and a teleprompter at UN headquarters.
“What we need to do is either leave the UN or we need to bomb it … maybe gas it … we need to destroy it,” Watters said on air.
After the UN contacted Fox News, Watters issued a private apology to Melissa Fleming, UN undersecretary-general for global communications.
“Unacceptable language”
Dujarric said during a briefing that such language was unacceptable. “There is nothing funny or ironic in calling for the bombing, the gassing, the destruction of this building,” he said.
Regarding the technical problems, the UN confirmed that the escalator malfunction occurred after Trump and First Lady Melania Trump stepped onto it. A White House videographer likely triggered the safety mechanism that stopped the escalator. A UN official also said the teleprompter was being operated by the White House, according to Reuters.
“If someone at the UN intentionally stopped the escalator as the President and First Lady were stepping on, they need to be fired and investigated immediately,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote Wednesday on X.
The General Debate of the 80th UN General Assembly officially opened Tuesday at UN headquarters in New York. Nearly 150 heads of state and government are attending the high-level week. / XINHUA