NEW YORK CITY — The set of Fox News’ “The Five” became a microcosm of the American cultural divide this week following a particularly pointed exchange between co-hosts Jesse Watters and Jessica Tarlov.

The moment began when Watters recounted a story of a stranger shouting a “fascist” slur at him while he was walking down the street. Watters attempted to play the incident off as a joke, mockingly telling the audience that the stranger didn’t realize he was “in on the secret.”

The studio air grew thick when Jessica Tarlov, the show’s liberal voice, immediately retorted, “Yes, he does. You’re on TV.” The comeback was more than just a clever quip; it was a critique of the “echo chamber” nature of modern media. The clip has since gone viral, with viewers on both sides using it to bolster their arguments.

For the right, it was an example of “liberal smugness”; for the left, it was a rare moment of truth-telling on a platform they often view as biased. The incident highlights the growing difficulty of maintaining civil discourse when the very definitions of words like “fascism” are being litigated in real-time on national television.