Three days after screaming at her fellow ABC co-hosts to shut up and get behind President Joe Biden because he’s “the candidate” for Democrats, staunchly racist and anti-Semitic co-host Sunny Hostin (the descendant of slave owners) was so disturbed by the special counsel’s report about Biden’s failing mental faculties that she hatched a plot to have Democrats ditch him at the convention and install California Governor Gavin Newsom in his place.
Following two segments of discussion about the report and Biden’s embarrassing press conference about his mental acuity, Hostin announced “there is an off-ramp here” that they “need to think about” going forward: “Once all of the delegates are received, the DNC will be certifying the delegates, right? And the count and Gavin Newsom can be swapped out if Joe Biden decides to step aside.”
Faux conservative Alyssa Farah Griffin jumped in to add “Or another candidate.” “It can be done. I think it’s important the public knows,” she proclaimed. “I don't think Kamala Harris will be so happy about that and I think the black community might turn,” moderator Joy Behar pushed back.
Talk of ditching Biden triggered faux conservative Ana Navarro. “I don’t know how many times I have to say this. This is a binary choice between evil and good! Between moral and amoral! An effective president and an ineffective president! A compassionate, kind man and an egotistical narcissist! That's the binary choice!” she screamed.
But before Hostin and Farah Griffin floated their secession machination, the rest of the cast tried desperately to defend Biden and downplay this cognitive decline.
Near the top of the show, Behar insisted it was desirable for Biden to forget when his son Beau died. “And, by the way, before I continue with this. Why would he want to remember the day that his son died? Why? You want to block that out of your head. You would have to remember when he was alive,” she chided Biden’s critics.
Her argument made no sense given how often Biden brings up Beau.
Behar also tried to write off Biden confusing Mexico and Egypt as just him “mix[ing] up the names of a couple of people. Seemingly thinking that the rest of the panel would agree with her that it was no big deal, she was surprised when Hostin showed grave concern and that the names were so dissimilar (Click “expand”):
BEHAR: How big of a problem is this going to be going forward in this election, for Biden?
HOSTIN: I think it's significant, actually.
BEHAR: You do?
HOSTIN: You know, to mix up the president of Egypt with the president of Mexico because his name sounds like si si, that's bizarre.
BEHAR: What are the two names?
FARAH GRIFFIN: Obrador. Sisi and Obrador. It’s not super close.
HOSTIN: They're pretty different.
Behar proposed that the way Biden “took on” Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy was a sign that he was mentally sharp. “But he took on Doocy. He has a sense of humor. He knows when to hit back. He's not in the dementia or anything. He’s got it,” she touted.
The special counsel’s interviews with Biden were only four months ago, in October, and Navarro’s defense of Biden’s inability to recall when Beau died was to argue that his memory was excellent over 20 years ago when they first met; and he told her the date his first wife and daughter died:
So, let me say a couple of things. First of all, as you to and I told you guys, I've known Joe Biden for over 20 years. And I remember one of the first times that I met Joe Biden and I invited him to an event in Miami in December. And he said to me, “I can't do it that day because that day is the day my wife and my daughter died, and every day that year I gather myself and I'm alone with my thoughts.”
Claiming she wasn’t trying to “explain the gaffe away,” co-host Sara Haines tried to explain away the gaffe as just Biden misspeaking:
HAINES: Not to explain the gaffe away, but I'd be more concerned if they followed up and said, “Sisi, who is he” and he said “Oh, Egypt” and caught himself. Because the misspeak thing happens all the time.
BEHAR: To everybody.
HAINES: Every single person
“I remember sitting at this table and once confusing South Korea and North Korea. I know better if you ask me,” she recalled.
Yeah, it's totally the same thing, Sara.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
ABC’s The View
February 9, 2024
11:03:58 a.m. Eastern(…)
JOY BEHAR: And, by the way, before I continue with this. Why would he want to remember the day that his son died? Why? You want to block that out of your head. You would have to remember when he was alive.
ANA NAVARRO: No--
BEHAR: But wait, hold on. The fact is getting -- that fact is getting completely buried because, later on in the press conference, he talked about being interrogated for hours by the special counsel at the same time he was dealing with an international crisis in Gaza; and he flubbed it when he brought up Egyptian President el Sisi. Watch.
[Cuts to video]
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: initially, the president of Mexico, El-Sisi did not want to open up the gate to allow humanitarian material to get in. I talked to him. I convinced him to open the gate.
[Cuts back to live]
BEHAR: Okay. So, he mixed up the names of a couple of people. How big of a problem is this going to be going forward in this election, for Biden.
SUNNY HOSTIN: I think it's significant, actually.
BEHAR: You do?
HOSTIN: You know, to mix up the president of Egypt with the president of Mexico because his name sounds like si si, that's bizarre.
BEHAR: What are the two names?
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: Obrador. Sisi and Obrador. It’s not super close.
HOSTIN: They're pretty different. And the other thing is, what the report said was he could not remember when he was the vice president. He gave out, you know, certain dates that were not in line when he was the vice president. It also says that his memory appeared hazy when describing the Afghanistan debate that was once so very important to him. And so you already now have people concerned about his age. I don't think people were as concerned about his mental acuity, though. And now they are. So, I think this is going to be problematic.
BEHAR: He answered those questions quite clearly as far as I could tell.
HOSTIN: Not when he mixed up Mexico and Egypt.
BEHAR: But he took on Doocy. He has a sense of humor. He knows when to hit back. He's not in the dementia or anything. He’s got it.
(…)
11:07:08 a.m. Eastern
NAVARRO: So, let me say a couple of things. First of all, as you to and I told you guys, I've known Joe Biden for over 20 years. And I remember one of the first times that I met Joe Biden and I invited him to an event in Miami in December. And he said to me, “I can't do it that day because that day is the day my wife and my daughter died and every day that year I gather myself and I'm alone with my thoughts.”
And so that's to your question of why he remembers it. I guarantee you every parent who has lost a child remembers exactly when that day happened. I know this because my parents lost my brother.
(…)
11:15:04 a.m. Eastern
SARA HAINES: Not to explain the gaffe away, but I'd be more concerned if they followed up and said, “Sisi, who is he” and he said “oh, Egypt” and caught himself. Because the misspeak thing happens all the time.
BEHAR: To everybody.
HAINES: Every single person -- I remember sitting at this table and once confusing South Korea and North Korea. I know better if you ask me.
HOSTIN: This is the president of the United States and describe them as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.
(…)
11:17:11 a.m. Eastern
HOSTIN: But there is an off-ramp here. And I think one of the off-ramps we need to think about is: once all of the delegates are received, the DNC will be certifying the delegates, right? And the count and Gavin Newsom can be swapped out if Joe Biden decides to step aside.
FARAH GRIFFIN: Or another candidate. It can be done. I think it’s important the public knows.
HOSTIN: I think Gavin Newsom can win.
BEHAR: I know, I don't think Kamala Harris will be so happy about that and I think the black community might turn.
HOSTIN: I don’t think they’re going turn if she remains the vice president of the United states.
NAVARRO: Kamala Harris is never going to betray Joe Biden in that way. The Democratic Party is never going to betray Joe Biden that way.
FARAH GRIFFIN: But it would be done in coordination if he’s putting the good of the country first. If he risks losing to Donald Trump that is reason enough –
[Crosstalk]
NAVARRO: I don’t know how many times I have to say this. This is a binary choice between evil and good!
BEHAR: That's right.
NAVARRO: Between moral and amoral! An effective president and ineffective president!
FARAH GRIFFIN: And that's why you need the best fighter.
NAVARRO: A compassionate, kind man and an egotistical narcissist! That's the binary choice!
