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Jesse Watters said Thursday on "The Five" that he could feel a growing backlash to the ongoing restrictions imposed in response to the coronavirus pandemic as the White House prepared to roll out its guidelines for reopening the economy.

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"It's like when you go under water and you hold your breath, if you keep holding your breath, you're going to sustain brain damage or you're gonna drown," Watters said. "And you can tell this country is ready to stop holding its breath and get above water and get a gasp of air, because if you keep staying under water, you've already seen [Great] Depression-level economic jobs losses in just one month alone."

"This country is not going to make it to May 1st," Watters added. "And that's why you see some states are going to have to open in phases.

"You can feel this country getting angry ... They're getting angry at the governors. They're not allowed to go to church," Watters said. "You know, they they don't have freedom of association. They can't pursue happiness. This is getting pretty ugly and we can't take it anymore."

Co-host Katie Pavlich agreed, saying some people feel suffocated by the policies.

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"When people feel continually that they're pushed in a corner and that they are continually told that they are not essential, when they're looking at their kids and they are not stocking their freezer full of $13-a-bin ice cream like Nancy Pelosi is in San Francisco and they're on an even tighter budget than maybe they were before," Pavlich said. "And they're worried about what the next two months are going to ... look like for their family, that feels really essential. And it feels just as suffocating and serious and threatening to them and to their livelihood as getting sick from the virus does."