When questioning why Barack Obama holds the elitist label and Bill Clinton does not, despite a perceptively similar background, Behar concluded that it must be racism. "The View" co-host seemed to forget that the elitist label primarily stems from Obama’s recorded conversation, at a posh San Francisco fundraiser, describing small town Pennsylvanians and midwesterners as "bitter" "clinging to guns and religion."
Hyping Obama’s background Behar declared Obama "has no sleaze." (Has she also forgotten about Obama’s relationship to Tony Rezko?) Echoing a "what’s the matter with Kansas" talking point, Joy hoped those racists voters would "come to their sense" and vote "their needs."
After Larry King asked about their famously tough interview with John McCain, Joy Behar promised if Barack Obama appears on "The View" this fall "we’ll give him a grilling just like we gave John McCain."
After bashing Sarah Palin’s family life and her upcoming "shotgun wedding," Behar also mocked the Alaska governor’s lack of foreign policy experience. Later in the interview, Joy pronounced Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad "Ahmadinejacket."
After her kind words about Bill Clinton, who blows up on any journalist that asks him a challenging question, the daytime chat show host expressed concerned about McCain’s temper. Behar exclaimed that "even Pat Buchanan who is a Republican from the -- from the year gimmell...worries about McCain’s temper." Behar also must have forgotten that Pat Buchanan left the Republican party eight years ago.
After explaining that Obama will only raise taxes on those making over $250,000, but failing to note the potential hit on the working and middle class of Obama’s proposed corporate tax hike, Behar proclaimed her "patriotism" and announced "I’m still going to vote for the person who’s going to cost me more and give me less material." How lame of a comedian is one who can’t find material from Joe Biden?
The entire transcript is below.
LARRY KING: He made the first appearance on "The View" today. What was it like?
JOY BEHAR: You know it was Bill. He's charming. He's charismatic. You know, he touched me. I got a little tingle.
KING: Yeah. Did he charm the whole crew?
BEHAR: He's very charming. He's very smart. You know, he's just got it. He's got it.
KING: Hillary's name came up during the interview, no surprise. Let's take a look.
BARBARA WALTERS: Did Senator Clinton really want to be vice president? And did you want her to be vice president?
FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON: Not really, no. I mean first of all, I had no-
WALTERS: Not really? Not really she didn’t or you didn't?
CLINTON: Not really. She didn't. And I had no real opinion. I think that she would have been the best politically, at least in the short run, because of her enormous support in the country.
WALTERS: And she didn't want it?
CLINTON: Not particularly. She -- but she didn't -- she wanted -- she said that if he asked, I'll do it, because it's my duty.
KING: You buy it?
BEHAR: You notice his body language was getting a little -- he was starting to move around and no, she didn't want it. She didn't want it, you know. I don't know. He's protecting his wife's, you know, her, her legacy, I guess. But his enthusiasm is not over the top, let's put it that way, for Obama. But, you know he did -- he did say he would win. He did say that.
KING: In fact, what.-
BEHAR: Yeah.
KING: We're going to show you that clip. Bill Clinton predicts the outcome of the election. You're going to be in for a shock. Watch.
BEHAR: Who's going to win the election, Obama or McCain?
CLINTON: I believe Obama will win.
[APPLAUSE]
CLINTON: Let me just say, I think Obama will win for the following reasons. Two-thirds of the American people are having trouble paying their bills. These are difficult times. That makes them more likely to change. The financial crisis and meltdown only makes that more likely, number one. Number two, America is growing more diverse racially, religiously, culturally. Demographically, the country is moving toward Democratic voters in general. Number three, registration is up for the Democrats and flat for the Republicans in 20 of the most important states.
KING: Sound real -- was he very enthusiastic or kind of-
BEHAR: You know, but his whole presentation is rather cool, calm and collected. So I can't really fault him -- you know, I don't want him jumping all around for Obama, but he could have been a little bit more enthusiastic. He could have said he's really ready to be president, I think he'll make a great president. He didn't say that.
KING: Do you think he's still feeling the wounds of the primary?
BEHAR: Well, his ego is, you know, quite substantial, as are all of these politicians' egos. And so I think that -- yeah, I think that it does bug him that his wife didn't get the nomination. And, you know, I think that it's still a little residual resentment there.
KING: He was kind to McCain?
BEHAR: Well, he was -- no, he likes McCain. We all like McCain. Everybody likes McCain. That doesn't mean I want him to be president. I do like the guy. You know, when I -- we showed that clip of me confronting him about the ads. I mean, I just was asking him that question out of, you know, a sincere interest in the fact that what happened to you? He used to be a guy who really was a straight shooter. You were a guy who was going to take the high road. How come you didn't take the high road? How come you went down like that? That's all I was asking him, really.
KING: What did Bill say about him?
BEHAR: Clinton?
KING: Yeah.
BEHAR: He said that he's a great guy. He has his, you know, his wonderful war record and everything. And we all admire that. But he just thinks that Obama will be -- is going to win, you know? The question I wanted to ask Bill today that I didn't get to ask -- and I regret it -- is why is it that he was a Yale law graduate student -- a law student graduate from Yale Law School- sorry- and Obama is a Harvard Law graduate, a professor, and yet Clinton never got this elitist label and Obama gets it? Why is that, I wonder? Is it because Obama is black? Is that the reason? There's something.
KING: Do you associate word elite with black?
BEHAR: Well, I think that people are looking at him and they say that he's very professorial and just all sorts of words to throw the -- I mean the guy has one wife. He has one car. You know, he did everything he was supposed to do. He's not divorced. He doesn't have any kind of sleaze in his background. He went to college. He got into Harvard Law School without affirmative action. He didn't even write on the application his color. And it's not enough for some people. It's not enough. It's not good enough. And why, you know? And today we're finding out that, you know, a lot of people in this country are saying they won't vote for an African-American. It's just outright racism, isn't it?
KING: Well, that would be terrible, yeah, if that would be a reason they wouldn't.
BEHAR: I mean that's what we're hearing now and it's very disturbing to, to me, although, you know, I can remember back when Kennedy was running and people would say I wouldn't vote for a Catholic and they voted for a Catholic. So maybe, hopefully, you know, people will come to their senses and think about their -- you know, their needs.
KING: Joy Behar and John McCain -- she has suddenly become kind of a status symbol -- a different kind of -- we'll get to it right after this.
[LAUGHTER]
SHERRI SHEPHERD: When Hillary conceded, I think it hit every woman in the gut, when she conceded. Was that a tough choice for her to make? What was the discussion that you and her had--
CLINTON: No.
SHEPHERD: --before she did that?
CLINTON: No. You know, some of the people who were for Senator Obama were saying, well, why didn't she just fold up her tent after we won all these little caucuses? She stayed until the very end. And then, when it was obvious that the only purpose of going to the convention would have been to perpetuate the differences between them, she then withdrew.
KING: We're back with Joy Behar. Okay, the Behar/McCain clash.
BEHAR: Yeah.
KING: It will go down in television history. McCain recently on "The View." Here's a sample of the grilling he got.
BEHAR: Because there are ads running from your campaign. One of them is saying that Obama, when he said, "You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig," was talking about Sarah. There's another ad that says that Obama was interested in teaching sex education to kindergartners. Now, we know that these two ads are untrue. They're lies. And yet you, at the end of it, say, "I approved these messages."
MCCAIN: Actually--
BEHAR: Do you really approve them?
MCCAIN: Actually, they are not lies. And if you've seen some of the ads that are running against me.
WALTERS: By the way, you yourself said--
MCCAIN: But the point is-
WALTERS: .-you yourself said the same thing about putting lipstick on a pig. You yourself used the same expression.
MCCAIN: When I was talking about a health care plan.
WALTERS: Yeah, but he talked about change.
[APPLAUSE]
MCCAIN: No, he-
WALTERS: He wasn't talking about Sarah Palin.
[APPLAUSE]
MCCAIN: Okay Senator Obama chooses his words very carefully, okay? He shouldn't have said it. He shouldn't have said it. He chooses his words very carefully. And this is a tough campaign.
BEHAR: It sure is a tough campaign.
KING: Okay. Did you get -- do you feel you ganged up on him?
BEHAR: No. Not at all. I mean, I think that he walked into "The View" thinking it was a chat fest, you know. And last time he was there, we were all cozy and warm -- cozy doo with him. But that was before he actually was the nominee. Now that he, you know, had.--
KING: So you think it's fair game?
BEHAR: Well, I mean, if he can't--
KING: Do you think he was surprised?
BEHAR: I think he was a little bit surprised by my question. But I always, you know, this is what I have to say about that. If you can't deal with Joy Behar, how are you going to deal with Vladimir Putin?
[LAUGHTER]
KING: You've got a point. All right, see--
BEHAR: I mean, you know, I like the guy. Like they're talking about all these cars that he has, you know -- how many -- he's got 13 cars?
KING: That's right.
BEHAR: Fine. Let him have 13 cars. To me, can he drive at night? [LAUGHTER] That is what you really need to ask. Can he drive any of them at night?
KING: That's funny. [LAUGHTER] Yes. Cindy McCain said that you and the other co-hosts picked their bones clean.
BEHAR: Yeah, that's what Cindy said. She was not happy.
KING: How do you react to that?
BEHAR: She's protecting her husband, the way -- the way Clinton was protecting his wife today -- she didn't really want to be vice president, they picked our bones clean. Everybody has a right to protect their spouse.
KING: Our friend, Frank Rich, in "The New York Times" Sunday wrote of your challenging McCain on truthfulness in our news culture. He said: "It's a stand-up comic by profession, looms as the new Edward R. Murrow."
BEHAR: Good night and good luck, is all I have to say to that.
KING: What do you make of that?
BEHAR: Well, that was quite a compliment from Frank Rich, I must say.
KING: I would say.
BEHAR: I mean I was actually -- if I had false teeth, they would have fallen out of my mouth when I read that. But I think that he's basically taken a shot at the legitimate, you know, media of not being able to ask that question directly to him, you know. And somebody -- a comedian, you know, will go places that other humans won't go, I guess.
KING: Well, you also have extra rope, don't you? I mean that's a...
BEHAR: There's a little rope in that way. Yeah, absolutely. I mean I did it because it was -- I came to this place for a reason, I guess, you know?
KING: By the way, Barack Obama did "The View" back in March. Let's take a look.
BEHAR: I have to just say one other thing bad before we go to serious stuff.
OBAMA: Yes?
BEHAR: I understand that you're related to Brad Pitt in some way.
[LAUGHTER]
OBAMA: Yes.
BEHAR: I mean I--
OBAMA: Actually, yeah.
BEHAR: How are you related to Brad Pitt?
OBAMA: I guess ninth cousins something removed or something.
BEHAR: Isn't that fascinating?
[LAUGHTER]
OBAMA: Yes. I mean I think -- I think he got the--[APPLAUSE] He got the better looking side of the gene pool, you know?
WALTERS: Just before you came out -- maybe we shouldn't say this, but we -- can we say it?
WHOOPI GOLDBERG: Say it. Say it.
WALTERS: We thought you we were very sexy looking.
OBAMA: Oh
[APPLAUSE]
BEHAR: Now that looks unbalanced. It looks as though we really--
KING: Looks unbalanced?
BEHAR: But that was--
KING: That looks like a swoon job.
BEHAR: Of course. But that was before he was nominated. That's -- if he comes on now--
KING: Oh, now nominated and rack up Barack.
BEHAR: If he comes on now, we'll give him a grilling, just like we gave McCain. I have questions and things, you know. So it's not the same -- it's not an equal time period.
KING: The last time you were with us, you said you wanted to hear what Sarah Palin would have to say for herself. She's done two TV interviews, a bunch of stump speeches. What's your thoughts now?
BEHAR: Well, she says that -- the thing that bugs me about her is that she keeps saying I'm ready. I'm ready to serve. When John McCain asked me to run, I didn't blink. I didn't hesitate. I said I'm ready. Well, you know, well, I'm ready to be an opera singer, Okay? I'd just like to share that. I have the bosoms. I've got the horns at home. The only thing I'm missing is the voice. [LAUGHTER] But I'm ready to be an opera singer. That doesn't make any sense to me when someone says something like that.
KING: I'm ready to be a brain surgeon.
BEHAR: Yes, I'm ready to be -- I want to be a model. I'll grow like four more feet, I'll lose 50 pounds, I'll be a model. Just because you say you're ready, doesn't make you ready.
KING: But the polls indicate she's helped McCain.
BEHAR: She's helped him because she's -- she's a very interesting candidate. I was saying this to one of your producers, how interesting she is. I mean, she has wolf pelts hanging from her wall, she -- next to the baby's cradle. You know, she's got all these children. She's got a daughter who just got pregnant out of wedlock. There's a kid -- the shotgun marriage is going to -- it's fascinating stuff. You can't beat it. You know, it's--
KING: It's drama, high drama.
BEHAR: It's drama. It's great theater.
KING: And here she is in New York for the U.N.
BEHAR: Boning up on foreign affairs, you know, overnight. It's like when I used to cram for -- at Queens College. Overnight, you know, you take like a diet pill and stay up all night and cram. That's how it feels to me, you know? And just because she goes to the U.N. and she mingles with Kissinger and all these foreign heads of state, does that make her a foreign policy expert? You know how many times I've met James Praagh -- van Praagh, the guy who talked to the dead? I still can't talk to the dead. [LAUGHTER] And I've met that guy many times.
KING: We have an e-mail question from Carol in Birmingham, Alabama: "What do you think of the rules of the vice presidential debate, that Palin and Biden will be given less time to reply to questions and discuss each other's answers than McCain and Obama, which is going to be kind of wide open?"
BEHAR: Well, that's another thing -- why did the Democrats agree to this? So, in other words, the way I understand it, Jim Lehrer -- is that who's going to be doing it?
KING: Yep.
BEHAR: He can ask Sarah--
KING: No. He won't do the vice presidents.
BEHAR: Oh, he's not doing it. Who's doing that?
KING: Oh Gwen--
BEHAR: Oh, Gwen Ifill?
BEHAR: OK, I like her.
KING: Yes.
BEHAR: But, okay, so you ask Sarah a question, she answers it. You ask Joe Biden a question, he answers it. But they can't interact at all.
KING: Correct.
BEHAR: So she can stay on her talking points that way.
KING: Correct.
BEHAR: There's no spontaneity there.
KING: So why did the Democrats agree?
BEHAR: I don't know. I happen to -- because they're self- destructive. I don't know. Why did they agree to such a thing? Remember when Reagan turned and said there you go again? You need stuff like that, back and forth, to see what the person's got.
[...]
KING: Are these ads out of control, do you think--
BEHAR: Well, they were.
KING: –on both sides?
BEHAR: They were. I don't know if those ads that I was taking him on about are still running. I think they stopped running them. Edward R. Murrow told them no, it's not good.
KING: And I heard today that she's not doing the "Bridge To Nowhere" speech again.
BEHAR: Oh, the bridge to--
KING: Now it's the road to the bridge- [LAUGHTER] No. I built the road to the bridge.
BEHAR: Oh. Oh that she kept repeating, even after we know that she said yes to the bridge and then she said no. "And I said no thank you. Thank you, but no thank you," over and over again. Honey, we know that you said yes and then you took the money. We know what happened.
KING: What do you make of the low -- it's not low key, it's just no attention being paid to Joe Biden?
BEHAR: I know. They don't even do any sketches on him. I was watching Lou Dobbs and they were saying that they didn't do any sketches on Joe Biden. Isn't there anything, hair plugs, something? This is -- come on.
KING: Yes. He's been a figure on the American scene--
BEHAR: Yeah
KING: --.total years, more than any other candidate was.
BEHAR: I know. I know. He's a sweet guy. I met him one time in Florida. He said that he's more afraid of being on Jon Stewart's show than on "Meet The Press."
[LAUGHTER]
KING: How do you think that debate will go?
BEHAR: With Biden and Sarah?
KING: Yeah.
BEHAR: Well, you know, in a certain way -- I was thinking about it during the break. I mean she can just answer straight and he can just answer straight. In a way, it will cut down on his appearing to be condescending or sexist in any way, because all he has to do is answer the questions. It might work to his benefit. Maybe that's why the Democrats said yes.
KING: Maybe that's right.
BEHAR: That might be it.
KING: What do you think is going to happen Friday night?
BEHAR: At my house?
[LAUGHTER]
KING: No.
BEHAR: Oh, you mean on television. Well, I think that -- I think that Obama is going to -- is going to nail it. He's just a really smart guy. He's very -- the thing I like about him -- and, you know, again, I like John McCain. He's a great guy. think that John McCain looks like he could snap. Even Pat Buchanan, who is a Republican from the -- from the year gimmell (ph), as they say- [LAUGHTER] Even Pat Buchanan said that he worries about John McCain's temper. Do we really want someone in the White House with a temper while Ahmadinejacket (ph) or whatever they call him-
KING: Ahmadinejad.
BEHAR: Ahmad -- that's what Whoopi calls him -- Ahmadinejacket is out there with his finger on the button? And now you have the North Koreans. You need someone who's very, very calm. We don't need any Dr. Strangelove business going on. And we need someone who knows a lot, who's smart, who can use judgment and think. That's why I think that Obama will better, temperament wise.
KING: But we approach the debate, we don't approach it objectively, most Americans, unless you're undecided.
BEHAR: Yes. Who's undecided?
KING: That's what I can't figure out.
BEHAR: Who are these undecided people?
KING: Who is undecided?
BEHAR: I don't think they're undecided. I think they like the attention. You know, oh, they're undecided. Oh, yes, I don't know yet. You know, and it gives you a lot of attention. Maybe they like that.
KING: You know a famous person that's undecided, Colin Powell said the other day--
BEHAR: Colin -- do you believe that?
KING: --I'm looking at him, I'm looking at--
BEHAR: You know what, if you believe Colin Powell is undecided, I've got a "Bridge To Nowhere" to sell you. [LAUGHTER] He knows what he's doing. He's just staying neutral. Look at the poor guy. First of all, he's a Republican, but he's an African- American. It's a tricky spot.
KING: Are you getting tired of this?
BEHAR: Of what?
KING: The campaign. Of what?
BEHAR: Oh, no, not really. Not yet. But we said before I don't know, it was just...
KING: We've got 48--
BEHAR:48 days.
KING: Whatever.
BEHAR: It juices me up, I have to say. Don't you -- don't you enjoy it in a way?
KING: Yeah, of course.
BEHAR: Yeah. It's a lot of fun. This particular one, this particular campaign is more interesting than anything. I remember when the Watergate -- do you remember Watergate? Glued to the TV.
KING: Do I remember Watergate?
BEHAR: Of course you remember it.
[LAUGHTER]
BEHAR: Glued to the TV. And this is kind of exciting like that.
KING: In Watergate, we didn't have cable TV.
BEHAR: Now but-
KING: Imagine if we had Watergate and cable TV.
BEHAR: In my day, we didn't even have a telephone.
[LAUGHTER]
KING: Hey, in my day.
BEHAR: It's so many years ago.
KING: How is your career going? Now, do you -- by the way, do you sense a new blossoming of you? Have you now become not only just a comedian, but a -- a kind of female Mark Twain?
BEHAR: Well, I call -- yeah, Barbara said that to me. She said "you're kind of like Mark Twain now, Joy." Really? But Mark -- I don't know. The...
KING: Mark Twain was a social commentator.
BEHAR: Yeah I know.
KING: I don't see any reason--
BEHAR: But I mean, I don't know. Maybe. I don't take myself that seriously. But it is -- it is a blossoming in a certain way, because I've become a fundit.
KING: A fundit?
BEHAR: I'm not a pundit, because I'm still a comedian first and foremost. I call myself a fundit. I think Bill Maher is a fundit. Jon Stewart's a fundit. We're fundits. It's different...
KING: That's a good word.
BEHAR: It's different from the, you know, well, you know, bah, bah, bah. And they can cite statistics and everything else. We don't do that. We just give our opinion with a joke.
KING: Do you do a lot of politics in your act?
BEHAR: Yes, sure. I like to do it. And just -- right now, there's so much stuff. You know something I was thinking, Obama wants to raise taxes on people who make over $250,000.
KING: Right.
BEHAR: Although people keep saying he's going to raise your taxes. He's not going to raise all your taxes. He's only raising people who are over 250. And those people over 250 are going to go back to the rate that we were all paying when Clinton was in office.
KING: Correct.
BEHAR: When there was a budget surplus, Okay? And so I'm going to pay back to that. I'm going to lose money, because I make a little more than that, thanks to Barbara Walters, you know. And I'm not going to have as much material, because Obama and Biden are not as funny as Palin and McCain. Those two -- between the old jokes and the whack out -- the whacked out, the hunting and all the crazy things she's into, there's a lot more material over there.
KING: You've got a point.
BEHAR: Yeah. And yet I'm such a patriotic American that I'm still going to vote for the person who's going to cost me more and give me less material. How do you like that?
KING: So, you're willing to give up money for your country?
BEHAR: I am.
KING: Horrors.
[LAUGHTER]
BEHAR: A little bit.
KING: Unheard of. Thank you, darling.
BEHAR: Thank you for having me yet again.
KING: You're always great.
