Following the networks’ lead this morning, ABC’s The View expressed disgust at Alabama’s Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore, who won out the primary vote against Trump-backed Republican incumbent Luther Strange yesterday. Moore’s staunch conservative and Christian views triggered the show's hosts to rant and rave about how “scary” his viewpoints were, as host Sara Haines even worried that Moore would try to “legislate” Christianity.
Whoopi led off the segment discussing the Alabama primary race, all the while shaking her head and chuckling as she described Roy Moore as being backed by Steve Bannon. “He’s got quite the pedigree,” she snarked.
The rest of the panel immediately reacted, as they each went around the table in a fury, citing all the reasons why Moore offended them:
SARA HAINES: Oh my God.
WHOOPI: He's a birther.
JOY BEHAR: Well he thinks gay marriage should be illegal, gay conduct, not just gay marriage.
HAINES: He says that homosexuals shouldn't be parents. Clearly he's not viewing the heterosexual people who are parents around him. If that’s a requirement for good parenting, he really needs to be more observant.
BEHAR: He says that Obama wasn't born here. He's presidential material apparently.
WHOOPI: He was fired as Chief Justice on the Alabama state Supreme Court after refusing federal orders to remove the Ten Commandments monument from the court.
After going through that laundry list, Whoopi and Sunny Hostin mocked Trump for backing the loser candidate:
WHOOPI: Now, so, you know who, loves to tweet. We know this.
SUNNY HOSTIN: Oh, yes.
WHOOPI: But he removed his tweet because it backed the loser.
HOSTIN: He deleted several of them.
WHOOPI: He deleted the tweets.
HOSTIN: But screen shots last forever. [ Cheers and applause ]
Whoopi and Joy Behar then wondered if Trump, Alabama, and the country “should be worried” about Moore being the Republican candidate:
WHOOPI: So the question is should he -- should the new guy be worried? Should we be more concerned? I will say that he's just the nominee. There will be a democratic opponent.
BEHAR: But it's Alabama. It's like that movie says --
WHOOPI: Don’t say it, because I got people from Alabama. Be very careful. [laughter[
BEHAR: I'm saying it's Alabama. It's strictly a red state. It's been a red state for a long time. I'm just saying. Not casting aspersions against the people of Alabama. I worry about them.
A distraught Sara Haines worried that Moore was trying to “legislate religion,” which led the whole group to go off on a ridiculous tangent worrying that Moore’s Christian beliefs meant he would mandate Christianity as the state religion:
HAINES: They were saying it was a big Bannon versus Trump moment. The scariest thing to wake up to is a Bannon victory. So knowing that he backed this guy is scary, but I think the more concerning part is that people are voting people like this gentleman in.
WHOOPI: He hasn't got in yet.
HAINES: Sorry. He passed one test and one test is too many for me. He wants to legislate religion. And one thing we talk about a lot on this show, is the beauty of this country is that we're all so different and we believe different things. The second you start to legislate one religion -- you cannot legislate religion and have a legitimate democracy.
WHOOPI: The minute you start legislating one religion, it makes us no different than the people we're fighting.
HOSTIN: Yeah, Because there's a separation of church and state.
WHOOPI: Supposed to be.
Host Joy Behar then fretted the entire Constitution was being unraveled before her very eyes, as Whoopi half-seriously wondered if she would be put into slavery:
BEHAR: Everything is being questioned all of a sudden. First Amendment, church and state.
WHOOPI: Whether I'm free.
Sunny Hostin continued the fearmongering, blasting Moore as “very radical” and wondering if radical Christians would now be taking over the country:
HOSTIN: He's very radical. So I wonder what that means in terms of his special election. Does that mean that this country is going in that direction?
BEHAR: No.
HOSTIN: He's a guy that had that little white gun and he was waving it around.
HAINES: Let me introduce you to my little friend, very little friend.
HOSTIN: If that is what's attractive I wonder what that message is.
HAINES: He said that growing atheism is to blame for 9/11. This is the guy that actually received votes--
HOSTIN: The majority of the votes!
Haines again worried about the “scary” former chief justice:
HAINES: To me, this should be the scarier part. Not what Trump has to say about it. It’s kind of reassuring that he didn’t like this guy, maybe.
HOSTIN: I mean, what does it mean?
HAINES: This is really scary to me.
WHOOPI: It means people have to really pay attention.
BEHAR: They got to vote. People who don't believe in this stuff have got to get out there.
While some of Moore’s comments on where Obama was born, for example, would be seen as controversial to even most conservatives, his viewpoints on cultural issues like religion, marriage and abortion are what seemed to really upset the media, with CNN even making this laundry list of “greatest hits” against Moore. His views influenced by his Christian beliefs clearly were the trigger for The View hosts as well.
