Fox News reporter whips up fear and loathing of homeless black people in dehumanizing report
Jessse Watters of Fox News interviews homeless man - Screencap

In a highly manipulative report designed to promote fears of homeless African-Americans, a Fox News contributor spoke with only black street people in New York City’s Penn Station, asking them about their drug usage and drinking habits.


The segment, aired on The O'Reilly Report, saw Fox contributor Jesse Watters initially speaking to predominately white families at Penn Station regarding their feelings about the homeless, with most expressing sympathy at their plight.

In the clip, captured by Media Matters, Watters then explains that it is illegal to live or panhandle in the transit center before asking an assortment of homeless black people brief questions about how they live day to day, while scarcely looking at them.

After one woman tells him she has been homeless since 2005, he fails to ask any follow-up questions as to how she came to be that way, before cutting to another African-American woman explaining that she became homeless due to drugs.

"What kind of drugs?" Watters asks in the tightly edited clip.

She replies "Crack," to which Watters asks, "How do you make money?"

"Prostitution," she replies.

Back in the studio with host Bill O'Reilly, a smirking Watters rips into New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, blaming him for the city's homeless problem before adding, "They have a $78 billion budget in New York. Why can't they get these guys in really plush homeless shelters?"

Watch the video below from Media Matters: