Despite repeatedly bragging about how they had to adhere to the journalistic standards of ABC News, The View continued to prove that that distinction meant absolutely nothing. During Friday’s episode, co-host Sunny Hostin spun a tangled web of red yarn as she suggested that President Trump was trying to steal the 2026 elections and Americans’ Social Security Numbers. Additionally, she asserted – without evidence – that the deaths of Minnesota agitators Renee Good and Alex Pretti were part of the plot.
The conversation was sparked by the FBI raid of a Fulton County, Georgia election facility. Former Trump administration staffer Alyssa Farah Griffin expressed irritation that Trump was still focused on the 2020 election. “More voters think the economy will get worse this year by a 13-point margin. That's what you are hired to do. Why are you looking back to the election you lost?” she huffed.
Hostin stepped up to give Farah Griffin the answer to her question.
According to Hostin, everything we’ve been seeing the last couple of weeks were all part of Trump’s plot to steal the 2026 midterm elections. “I think I know why. You know, I actually think that this is a coordinated effort to steal the 2026 election – elections,” she declared.
Hostin singled out U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi as a key figure in the plot, pointing to her request to states to turn over their voter rolls:
I think I know why. You know, I actually think that this is a coordinated effort to steal the 2026 election – elections. That's what I think, because if you think about it, um, Pam Bondi - Remember what happened in Minnesota with Pretti and Good. Pam Bondi sent a letter to the governor, to Minnesota and said that they would withdraw ICE agents if they provided all of their voter data. And they've also asked every single state for voter registration formation, voter data. And at least 11 states like Texas have complied so far.
Obviously, it has been a Republican policy position for a long time to make sure voter rolls were free of people who shouldn’t be on them; i.e. the dead, illegal immigrants, est.
ABC News co-host Sunny Hostin claims there is a "coordinated effort to steal the 2026 election" for Trump, claims that the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti are a part of it, and claims the federal government are trying to steal social security numbers to steal the election. pic.twitter.com/AWSQPtYE6a
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) January 30, 2026
But in Hostin’s mind, the Department of Justice was trying to get access to people’s Social Security Numbers for nefarious reasons:
What - And I think people don't understand what voter data consists of. They think it's just, you know, that you're a Republican or Democrat or an independent and your name. What it exists of is your name, address, full social security number, driver's license number, political party affiliation, phone number, email address, voting history and/or your voting method, whether did it absentee or in person. What can someone do with your social security number? It's tied to your taxes, it's tied to your bank account, your healthcare, and even your future benefits.
“Imagine the type of information that can – that kind of information, how it can be used to perhaps interfere with an election,” Hostin proclaimed with no explanation of the factor of HOW it could be used that way.
If anything, it would help the federal government to figure out which Social Security Numbers associated with deceased Americans were still suspiciously in use. Which would be an indicator of identity theft.
Unironically, following Hostin’s delve into election conspiracy theories, the rest of the cast went at Trump for conspiracy theories. “There's a conspiracy-minded group of people that I think this kind of tempts and gets riled up about it,” declared co-host Sara Haines.
After Hostin went on her conspiratorial rant, Ana Navarro says Trump is the only one who's " cuckoo for cocoa puffs."
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) January 30, 2026
"He is insane or senile." pic.twitter.com/hrQcDVnnO4
“Donald Trump is cuckoo for cocoa puffs. Esta loco!” shrieked co-host Ana Navarro. “He is insane or senile and has a very weird fixation, even though the courts proved he lost in 2020, even though it was thoroughly investigated. This guy wants to rewrite history!”
The View packed 2025 with loads of conspiracy theories about Trump stealing every future election. But none of it squared with how Republicans lost several big and important elections in November of that year. If the right was going to steal the elections, why didn’t they steal those? Of course, The View never address that in consistency. Only celebrated the wins.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
ABC’s The View
January 30, 2026
11:05:37 a.m. Eastern(…)
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: More voters think the economy will get worse this year by a 13-point margin. That's what you are hired to do. Why are you looking back to the election you lost?
SUNNY HOSTIN: I think I know why. You know, I actually think that this is a coordinated effort to steal the 2026 election – elections. That's what I think, because if you think about it, um, Pam Bondi - Remember what happened in Minnesota with Pretti and Good. Pam Bondi sent a letter to the governor, to Minnesota and said that they would withdraw ICE agents if they provided all of their voter data. And they've also asked every single state for voter registration formation, voter data. And at least 11 states like Texas have complied so far.
What - And I think people don't understand what voter data consists of. They think it's just, you know, that you're a Republican or Democrat or an independent and your name. What it exists of is your name, address, full social security number, driver's license number, political party affiliation, phone number, email address, voting history and/or your voting method, whether did it absentee or in person.
What can someone do with your social security number? It's tied to your taxes, it's tied to your bank account, your healthcare, and even your future benefits. Imagine the type of information that can – that kind of information, how it can be used to perhaps interfere with an election.
(…)
SARA HAINES: There's a conspiracy-minded group of people that I think this kind of tempts and gets riled up about it.
ANA NAVARRO: Can we just call a spade a spade?
[Applause]
Donald Trump is cuckoo for cocoa puffs. Esta loco! He is insane or senile and has a very weird fixation, even though the courts proved he lost in 2020, even though it was thoroughly investigated. This guy wants to rewrite history!
And the point you made is right. He is now surrounded by all these sycophants who are incapable of pushing back and telling him he is crazy! He is like the emperor with no clothes. Right? And nobody is telling him that he's parading around town absolutely naked.
(…)
