During a fiery exchange during “The Five” on Fox News, co-host Jesse Watters clashed with Jessica Tarlov over the case of an alleged MS-13 gang member and the broader implications of immigration policy and public opinion. The segment quickly escalated into a high-octane showdown, with Watters repeatedly challenging Tarlov’s claims and credibility.
Tarlov opened by suggesting that a trip by Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen to El Salvador had shifted public opinion on the controversial case of Abrego Garcia, an alleged MS-13 affiliate. “By a two-to-one margin, people think that Abrego Garcia should be returned to the United States,” she said, referencing polling data. Tarlov argued that while many assumed Trump’s remarks about gang tattoos were hyperbole, his exchange with ABC’s Terry Moran suggested otherwise. “It seems like Trump actually did think that,” she said.
Citing CBS reports, Tarlov referenced supposed gang tattoo experts who downplayed the significance of the symbols found on Garcia. “These experts did not say that the symbols the judge talked about — the marijuana leaf, the cross, the smiley—were gang-related,” she claimed.
That’s when Jeanine Pirro pushed back hard. “Then they’re wrong,” she interjected. “I prosecuted those cases,” she added, making it clear that she knows firsthand what Abrego Garcia’s tattoos mean.
Tarlov then seemed to concede Pirro knew more than she did. “Okay! That’s fine. Either way, public opinion has shifted on this issue,” she continued, as if that matters.
Tarlov pivoted to defending migrant mothers who were deported with their children, claiming (falsely) that due process was denied. “One of them… had two minutes on the phone to talk to her husband to try to figure out what would happen to her American child,” she said. “You should be able to talk to your lawyer before you are deported, especially with your American citizen child.”
But Watters wasn’t having it.
“I’m sorry, Jessica, love you, but I don’t believe anything you say anymore,” he declared. “You’re wrong about everything.”
He went on to criticize her inconsistent narrative. “First he’s a Maryland dad, then actually he does have tattoos that spell MS-13.… Then he was working at Home Depot,” he said mockingly. “And then there’s this other tattoo expert that you have. I thought we were supposed to trust the experts, right? And all these experts say this guy’s a gangbanger and you don’t trust the experts.”
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Watters also questioned the plausibility of Garcia being uninvolved with the gang while allegedly surrounded by its members. “How is it that the MS-13 ranking gang members are allowing a non-gang member to hang out with them?” he asked. “That’s like when the feds raid a Gambino gambling den… and some guy says, ‘I’m not in the mob.’”
“Use your brain, Jessica,” Watters told her.
The exchange ended with Watters laying out the legal reality of child deportation cases. “When you pick up an illegal and they happen to have their kid with them, they get a choice…. Do you want to be deported with your child or assign a family member or guardian in the U.S.?” he explained. “If you don’t like the law, then go to Congress. Change the law.”
“Otherwise,” he warned, “you just get women here breaking through the border, having babies, and they all get to stay because you feel bad.”
🔥BOOM: @JesseBWatters just delivered a pretty BRUTAL smackdown of Jessica Tarlov for her take on the “Maryland Man” with completely harmless tattoos that are definitely not MS13 related whatsoever…
TARLOV: “We were all assured that no one was dumb enough to think that it was… pic.twitter.com/17eRYP6arR
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) April 30, 2025
That was brutal… and so necessary. Unfortunately too many people on the left care more about the narrative than the facts.
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