Just like in the mainstream media, any common sense statement uttered by a conservative on The View is treated with absolute shock and horror. During a particularly stupid conversation Tuesday about a poll which found 58% of Republicans think colleges have a negative impact on the country, libertarian host Jedediah Bila suggested that liberal bias in academia was probably the reason for this poll. But even the mere mention of something awry in that untouchable institution provoked outrage at the table.
The liberal hosts spent the majority of the discussion avoiding the obvious answer to why Republicans would have negative attitudes towards colleges. Instead, they spent several minutes discussing whether or not college was a necessary step to adulthood.
“Is it that college is the issue? Or is the question should everybody go to college?” Whoopi asked the panel.
Host Sunny Hostin first answered that she was “disturbed” by the racial implications of this poll result, saying that a formal education was historically the “great equalizer” for blacks. The panel then drifted to become a back-and-forth argument with Hostin and Whoopi over whether or not college was a necessary step.
Host Joy Behar then tried to bring it back to Republicans and Trump bashing (of course.)
“Do you remember when Trump was running, he said ‘I love the educated. I love the poorly educated.’ The Republican Party may like the poorly educated because they vote for them,” Behar asserted.
Bila fought back that there were “a lot of very well educated, very successful people out there voting for Republicans. I promise you that.” The conversation went off topic again briefly as Bila and Behar discussed why rich people would vote for Trump. When Bila tried to make an argument against high taxes, Behar scoffed, “Oh, my heart breaks.”
Hostin brought the topic back to center to ask again why Republicans would have a negative view of colleges.
“But you don’t know why,” Bila stated. “I have a feeling that some of those people felt that there was a bias on many college campuses, on a majority of college campuses, I’ve seen it, I’ve lectured at a bunch of college campuses. I’ve taught at college campuses---”
“So have I, actually,” Whoopi interjected.
“I think that’s what they’re referencing,” Bila added. “Bias that students come out with, a, and b, maybe they were also saying--”
“You mean they read!” Hostin interrupted. “They read!” she scoffed.
“You don’t think there’s a bias in the majority? There’s not a liberal bias in the majority of colleges?” Bila asked.
Before she could finish asking the question, Hostin, Whoopi and Behar exclaimed “No!” along with sounds of disapproval.
“For the majority of people, it does open their eyes. They’re suddenly surrounded by lots of different people,” Whoopi stated. Behar tried to get the talk back to Trump:
“And educated people will vote in their own interest! A lot of times people do not vote in their own interest because they do not have the tools to understand, this con-man, and what he is--[indiscernible],” Behar trailed off, as the audience erupted in applause.
“You’re not giving people enough credit,” Bila shot back.
What the hosts didn’t discuss was the full context of the July 10 poll, which might’ve led to a better understanding. Those polled were asked to rank several public institutions, from schools to the media to banks to churches on whether or not they had a “positive” or “negative” effect “on the way things are going in the country.” One interesting finding from the poll the media didn’t hype, oddly enough, was that slightly more Democrats thought the media was having a negative effect “on the way things are going in the country” than they did positive.
