It had not been a good week for ABC’s The View as they were forced to repeatedly read legal notes after parroting allegations against President-elect Trump’s nominations for cabinet positions. On Thursday’s episode, co-host Joy Behar praised their legal notes as a form of fact-checking and suggested that it was a reason people were fans of the show. But that was a lie and they were still getting away with making heinous and unfounded accusations.
“But I think that's why people like our show, because they know that we are checked by ABC News...If we're wrong, we have the legal note here,” Behar quipped as she pointed to co-host Sunny Hostin.
And yet, the top of the show, moderator Whoopi Goldberg claimed – without evidence – that being accused of sexual misconduct was a requirement to be nominated by Trump and falsely claimed nearly all of his picks had been accused. Behar even backed her up:
GOLDBERG: It seems like unless you have a sexual misconduct allegation, you can't be in the cabinet.
BEHAR: That's true.
GOLDBERG: That's what it's looking like because I mean – Was it 11 people and maybe one of the 11 doesn't have something going on?
“It’s like, ‘Oh, let's see, who’s accused of sexual assault? Put them in the cabinet! And they're like, ‘pick me, pick me!’” Behar insisted.
There were no legal notes or fact-checks by ABC regarding that false statement.
They were followed up by pretend independent Sara Haines suggesting that “sexual assault and sex offenders” were part of the “MAGA agenda” for the country:
But one interesting thing was Karoline Leavitt, who’s Trump’s pick for White House press secretary said, “He has chosen brilliant and highly-respected outsiders to serve in his administration and he will continue to stand behind them as they fight against all those who seek to derail the MAGA agenda.” I would encourage them to separate sexual assault and sexual offenders from their MAGA agenda or you're telling me this is part of your agenda and that's what's coming out.
There were no legal notes or fact-checks by ABC regarding that false statement.
Behar went on to dredge up the long-debunked accusations against Justice Brett Kavanaugh. She and Hostin whined that the FBI ended their investigation after finding no evidence of wrongdoing. “So, I mean, that's the beginning of the end right there! People should have been alerted to what would be coming down the pike right there! So, I’m not surprised by this at all,” she huffed.
There were no legal notes or fact-checks by ABC regarding that false statement. But of course, there weren’t. Because contrary to Behar’s framing of legal notes, that’s not how ABC views them.
Last year, when responding to a NewsBusters study of how many legal notes they were forced to deliver in 2022 (three dozen) on their Behind the Table podcast, executive producer Brian Teta insisted “a legal note is not a correction” but rather “is something that as a part of ABC News we are asked to do to make sure we’re presenting all statements and sides.”
So essentially, Behar’s own comments about legal notes was misinformation.
In a later segment stoking fear about social media, Behar claimed that podcaster Joe Rogan “believes in dragons!” The View didn’t play a video of what Behar alleged for one simple reason: it never happened. In the video in question, Rogan was talking about “things that existed only in myth but every culture has, like dragons.”
He proposed that ancient humans had seen “a giant lizard” and called “a dragon” (and gave the example of Komodo Dragons) or creatures that inspired the legends of dragons. He called fire-breathing dragons “bull shit,” and on the idea of dragons of legends being real, he said “neh.”
What Hostin was forced to read a legal note about were former Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Army veteran Pete Hegseth:
I have a legal note. Matt Gaetz has long denied all allegations and has not been charged with any crime. Gaetz previously dismissed allegations that he paid for sex saying that, quote, “Someone is trying to re-categorize my generosity to ex-girlfriends as something more untoward. Another legal note, Pete Hegseth’s lawyer said he paid the woman in 2023 to head off the threat of a baseless lawsuit. He has denied any wrongdoing.
“Just call the show ‘Legal Note’ from now on,” Behar added, refusing to take it seriously.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
ABC’s The View
November 21, 2024
11:04:25 a.m. Eastern(…)
WHOOPI GOLDBERG: Sexual misconduct allegations seem not to matter anymore. It seems like unless you have a sexual misconduct allegation, you can't be in the cabinet.
JOY BEHAR: That's true.
GOLDBERG: That's what it's looking like because I mean – Was it 11 people and maybe one of the 11 doesn't have something going on?
BEHAR: You know what? Years ago, I think it was Cindy Adams used to have parties. And they’d say: if you're not indicted you're not invited and reminds me of this in a way. It’s like, “Oh, let's see, who’s accused of sexual assault? Put them in the cabinet!” And they're like, “pick me, pick me!”
(…)
11:05:50 a.m. Eastern
SARA HAINES: But one interesting thing was Karoline Leavitt, who’s Trump’s pick for White House press secretary said, “He has chosen brilliant and highly-respected outsiders to serve in his administration and he will continue to stand behind them as they fight against all those who seek to derail the MAGA agenda.”
I would encourage them to separate sexual assault and sexual offenders from their MAGA agenda or you're telling me this is part of your agenda and that's what's coming out.
[Applause]
BEHAR: One more thing. I'm remembering – it’s reminded me of when Kavanaugh was up for the Supreme Court and the FBI never really followed through on the investigation as far as I know. Am I correct on that?
SUNNY HOSTIN: You're correct. They stopped the investigation.
BEHAR: So, I mean, that's the beginning of the end right there! People should have been alerted to what would be coming down the pike right there! So, I’m not surprised by this at all.
(…)
HOSTIN: I have a legal note. Matt Gaetz has long denied all allegations and has not been charged with any crime. Gaetz previously dismissed allegations that he paid for sex saying that, quote, “Someone is trying to re-categorize my generosity to ex-girlfriends as something more untoward. Another legal note, Pete Hegseth’s lawyer said he paid the woman in 2023 to head off the threat of a baseless lawsuit. He has denied any wrongdoing.
BEHAR: Just call the show "Legal Note" from now on.
(…)
11:18:16 a.m. Eastern
BEHAR: But I think that's why people like our show, because they know that we are checked by ABC News.
GOLDBERG: We're checked by everybody.
BEHAR: Yeah. If we're wrong, we have the legal note here.
[Laughter]
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: The human legal note.
BEHAR: We went from Walter Cronkite basically to this guy Joe Rogan who believes in dragons. I checked it.
HOSTIN: He believes in dragons?
BEHAR: He believes in dragons!
SARA HAINES: Did you triple source that?
BEHAR: Yes, I did. And he also thinks that dragons – I guess like dinosaury type animals roamed the Earth when people did. So, this is a type of really, really bad information that's going out there.
(…)
