Fox News host Jesse Watters under fire for Ivanka Trump comment 
 
 CLOSE Fox News host Jesse Watters is under fire for making a hand gesture while referring to Ivanka Trump, which critics call suggestive. USA TODAY 
 
 As if Fox News didn't have enough trouble, now there's another controversy brewing from one of its on-air personalities. 
 
 Jesse Watters, who appeared on Bill O'Reilly's The O'Reilly Factor, is under fire for a gesture and a grin that he made on another Fox News show about President Trump's daughter. 
 
 During a segment in Tuesday's show on The Five, Watters commented on Ivanka Trump's recent visit to Berlin, where the first daughter defended her father's attitudes towards women despite noticeable boos from the audience at the Women 20 summit on economic empowerment. Watters criticized the crowd's reaction, saying, “It’s funny, the left says they really respect women, and then when given an opportunity to respect a woman like that, they boo and hiss." 
 
 But then he followed his commentary with a hand gesture and a smirk, adding: “So I don’t really get what’s going on here, but I really liked how she was speaking into that microphone.” 
 
 WATCH: Jesse Watters on Fox News re Ivanka Trump: "I really like how she was speaking into that microphone" pic.twitter.com/HoJHLpMtq1 — Yashar (@yashar) April 26, 2017 
 
 The viral moment, captured by journalist Yashar Ali, was quickly picked up by critics who denounced Watters' remark as sexual in nature: 
 
 FOX, clean it up. Microphone comments? Comments on hosts dresses? Get rid of those who cannot measure up. #enough#stepup#blatant#shame — Mika Brzezinski (@morningmika) April 26, 2017 
 
 This Jesse Watters fellow seems like a charmer — Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) April 26, 2017 
 
 Congratulations, Jesse Watters, you're a disgusting pig as well as being a racist moron. https://t.co/lZbydxIV7l — John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) April 26, 2017 
 
 In a statement Wednesday, the Fox News host defended himself and rejected the allegations centered around his remarks. 
 
 "During the break we were commenting on Ivanka’s voice and how it was low and steady and resonates like a smooth jazz radio DJ,” Watters said. “This was in no way a joke about anything else.” 
 
 On air I was referring to Ivanka's voice and how it resonates like a smooth jazz radio DJ. This was in no way a joke about anything else. — Jesse Watters (@jessebwatters) April 26, 2017 
 
 The recent controversy comes at an inopportune time for Fox News. Earlier this month, O'Reilly, a conservative megastar talk show host, was dismissed from the network after an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment. His departure followed last year's ouster of chairman and CEO Roger Ailes over allegations of sexual impropriety. 
 
 This isn't the first time Watters has been blasted in the media. Last October, he was heavily criticized for a segment on The O'Reilly Factor taped in New York's Chinatown neighborhood that was widely viewed as having racist overtones. 
 
 During Wednesday's show on The Five, Watters announced that he was taking a vacation, according to the Business Insider. "I'll be back on Monday, so don't miss me too much," Watters said during the show, the Business Insider reported. 
 
 Contributing: Doug Stanlin 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/2q8ZeTB ||||| Jesse Watters, the Fox News host who took heat this week for making a joke about Ivanka Trump that was criticized as lewd, said on Wednesday that he would be taking a family vacation until Monday. The move came just three days after his show began airing in a new high-profile time slot. 
 
 Mr. Watters, who denied that his comment about President Trump’s daughter was sexual, announced his upcoming absence near the end of Wednesday night’s edition of “The Five.” He will miss two days of the show’s first week in prime time after it took over the 9 p.m. slot from “Tucker Carlson Tonight” and he will miss his “Watters’ World” show on Saturday. 
 
 A Fox News spokeswoman declined to comment on whether the vacation had been planned before “The Five” moved to its new time slot, or if the time off was related to the criticism Mr. Watters had received throughout much of Wednesday. 
 
 Toward the end of Wednesday’s hourlong show, Mr. Watters and his fellow hosts marveled at a wild baseball play in which a base runner leapt over the catcher to score a run, then he segued abruptly into his vacation announcement. ||||| Fox News host Jesse Watters announced late Wednesday that he is taking an abrupt vacation from “The Five” following backlash over sexually charged remarks about first daughter Ivanka Trump. 
 
 "I'm going to be taking a vacation with my family, so I'm not going to be here tomorrow,” Watters said during his show, according to reports. "I'll be back on Monday, so don't miss me too much.” 
 
 His abrupt departure comes just three days into the new prime-time slot for his show. CNN’s Brian Stelter noted that Watters will miss two days of his first week in prime time, as well as his weekend show. 
 
 During a segment on Tuesday night, Watters remarked on the way that Trump held a microphone while she discussed women’s rights at a panel in Germany. 
 
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 “It’s funny. The left says they really respect women and then when given an opportunity to respect a woman like that they boo and hiss … so I don’t really get what’s going on here, but I really liked how she was speaking into that microphone,” Watters said. 
 
 Watters gestured with his hand toward his mouth as he made the remark and then grinned at his co-hosts. 
 
 The next morning, Watters said his comment was not meant to be sexual innuendo. 
 
 “During the break, we were commenting on Ivanka's voice and how it was low and steady and resonates like a smooth jazz radio DJ,” he said. “This was in no way a joke about anything else.” 
 
 Watters’s remark comes after Fox News severed ties with former host Bill O’Reilly and chairman Roger Ailes over a slew of sexual harassment allegations. 
 
 The network fired O’Reilly last week.
– Under fire for remarks about first daughter Ivanka Trump that critics are calling sexually suggestive, Fox host Jesse Watters made the surprise announcement that he’s taking a break. The move comes just three days after his show, The Five, landed a prime-time spot, notes the Hill. "I'm going to be taking a vacation with my family, so I'm not going to be here tomorrow,” Watters said during his Wednesday night show. "I'll be back on Monday, so don't miss me too much.” Watters’ controversial comment aired Tuesday night during a segment discussing Trump’s appearance at the W20 Summit in Berlin. After criticizing people for booing Trump, he added, while smiling and gesturing with his hand, “So I don’t really get what’s going on here, but I really liked how she was speaking into that microphone.” (See a clip here, as captured by journalist Yashar Ali.) Ali’s tweet brought widespread attention to the comment, reports USA Today, and critics soon piled on, including MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski, who tweeted, “FOX, clean it up. Microphone comments? Comments on hosts dresses? Get rid of those who cannot measure up.” Before announcing his break, Watters defended his quip, saying, “During the break, we were commenting on Ivanka's voice and how it was low and steady and resonates like a smooth jazz radio DJ. This was in no way a joke about anything else.” Not everyone was buying the explanation, however. Given Fox's recent troubles over sexual harassment scandals with Roger Ailes and Bill O'Reilly, the New York Times notes that the timing couldn't be worse for the network.