The news that Special Counsel Jack Smith was dropping his cases against President-elect Trump left the Cackling Coven of ABC’s The View less than enthused, Tuesday morning. It had co-host Joy Behar bemoaning that karma would not get Trump. Meanwhile, co-host Sunny Hostin was trying to defend Smith and the Justice Department from the radical leftists condemning them.
Moderator Whoopi Goldberg opened the segment laughably asking for a refund for the money wasted on the case. “So, after all that time and money, are we going to get a rebate? We're not getting any money back?” she asked as the audience laughed.
“It shows you there's no such thing as karma, doesn’t it? It's like the Easter Bunny and affordable housing. It doesn't exist!” decried Behar. She did allow herself to express some hope in that “eventually, I think we will get him out but it's going to take a while and let's hope there's not too much damage that he does.”
Behar was still expressing shock that Vice President Kamala Harris’s message of trying to bribe voters with houses didn’t stack up against Trump’s, which she mischaracterized as just about “cats and dogs in Ohio.”
She then demanded that Republicans in Congress “step up” to oppose Trump’s agenda despite his mandate from voters; bizarrely, she hoped that Republicans would step up to stop Trump’s purported agenda to allow dengue fever to sweep across the country:
I feel like some of the Republicans in Congress are going to have to step up. Especially when you have somebody like Robert Kennedy Jr. – You send me a thing the other day that said that dengue fever is on the rise. I don't think these Republicans want to get dengue fever. I don't think that they want to get COVID. I don't think that they want their kids to not gets polio shot, so when it comes right down to them, maybe they will step up because it will affect them.
Soon, it was Hostin’s turn to start spewing conspiracy theories. Without evidence or explanation, she claimed one of the reasons Trump ran for president again was to “milk money out of the government, which is what he did the first time.”
But that didn’t make sense because he received the same paycheck every president received and he donated every check.
She also stated that “he was running to stay out of jail.”
Hostin also used up a lot of good oxygen to defend Smith, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and the Justice Department from those on the left who were denouncing how they took too long to go after Trump in the first place (Click “expand’):
Let me say, the other thing I want to say is a lot of people are blaming Merrick Garland and saying ‘why did he take so long?’ and blaming the Department of Justice, ‘why did they take so long?’ As an alum of the Department of Justice, I want to make it clear that these cases generally take between two and four years to prosecute.
I know that sounds crazy, but think about how many witnesses including yourself who testified in front of that House committee, 1,000. When you are a prosecutor like jack Smith and receive that case, you now have to re-interview those witnesses. You're not going to just take the paperwork and say, ‘okay, Alyssa said this so that's fine.’ You've got to do the work yourself. So, between the House committee report being released, that was in 2022 they were gearing up against all of this pressure from the other side, appeals, motions.
Behar wondered about the future of any charges and Hostin had bad news. “What that means is you can bring them again, but the problem is, because he's the sitting president you can't continue the prosecution and the statute of limitations will likely run out when he's done,” she lamented.
Still trying to make race a major facet of the 2024 election cycle, Hostin bloviated about how black women were the good voters because they cared about January 6, compared to those who voted based on the economy. “But when the exit polls were taken the 92 percent of black women that voted for the vice president said that the number one issue for them was January 6 and the fall of democracy,” she boasted.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
ABC’s The View
November 26, 2024
11:03:10 a.m. Eastern(…)
WHOOPI GOLDBERG: So, after all that time and money, are we going to get a rebate?
[Laughter]
We're not getting any money back? Okay, well --
JOY BEHAR: Nothing.
GOLDBERG: What do you think of it?
BEHAR: It shows you there's no such thing as karma, doesn’t it? It's like the Easter Bunny and affordable housing. It doesn't exist! I mean, I feel like eventually I think we will get him out but it's going to take a while and let's hope there's not too much damage that he does.
So, if you think about what happened in the past – how long is it since election day?
SUNNY HOSTIN: It's been about two – three --- It’s been about three weeks.
SARA HAINES: About two years.
[Laughter]
BEHAR: It feels like a decade, doesn't it?
HAINES: Yeah.
BEHAR: The idea that Kamala Harris says to American people, ‘I'm going to help you buy a house,’ that did not resonate as much as they're eating cats and dogs in Ohio. I mean, it's weird, isn't it? We're in a weird sort of state right now.
But I feel like -- I also think even though everybody has been talking about how awful these picks are for the cabinet, I feel like some of the Republicans in Congress are going to have to step up. Especially when you have somebody like Robert Kennedy Jr. – You send me a thing the other day that said that dengue fever is on the rise.
GOLDBERG: Yes.
BEHAR: I don't think these Republicans want to get dengue fever. I don't think that they want to get COVID. I don't think that they want their kids to not gets polio shot, so when it comes right down to them, maybe they will step up because it will affect them.
(…)
11:07:42 a.m. Eastern
HOSTIN: You know, listen, that was always the plan. I firmly believe that the reason that he was running again to be president was partially because he wants to sort of milk money out of the government, which is what he did the first time, he was running to stay out of jail.
BEHAR: That's right.
HOSTIN: That's what he was doing.
[Applause]
If we're being honest, okay.
BEHAR: And it worked. It worked.
HOSTIN: Let me say, the other thing I want to say is a lot of people are blaming Merrick Garland and saying ‘why did he take so long?’ and blaming the Department of Justice, ‘why did they take so long?’ As an alum of the Department of Justice, I want to make it clear that these cases generally take between two and four years to prosecute.
I know that sounds crazy, but think about how many witnesses including yourself who testified in front of that House committee, 1,000. When you are a prosecutor like jack Smith and receive that case, you now have to re-interview those witnesses. You're not going to just take the paperwork and say, ‘okay, Alyssa said this so that's fine.’ You've got to do the work yourself. So, between the House committee report being released, that was in 2022 they were gearing up against all of this pressure from the other side, appeals, motions.
BEHAR: What can jack Smith do now?
HOSTIN: Well, now, what he has done now is he's withdrawn the cases. The judge has said they are withdrawn without prejudice. What that means is you can bring them again, but the problem is, because he's the sitting president you can't continue the prosecution and the statute of limitations will likely run out when he's done. So, he did what he wanted to do.
But the last final point I'll make, you know, I know that people are trying to – most people are saying, ‘well, this was a kitchen table issue. This was about the cost of eggs.’ Donald Trump never talked about the cost of eggs. He tried to commit a sex act on a microphone. He talked about, you know, pets being eaten.
BEHAR: Yeah.
HOSTIN: But when the exit polls were taken the 92 percent of black women that voted for the vice president said that the number one issue for them was January 6 and the fall of democracy. So, there were some voters that felt that that was very, very important.
(…)
