Every host at The View, save for Meghan McCain, went out of their way to defend Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday’s show, after the Trump campaign came out with an ad showcasing how tone-deaf the Democrats were to hurting Americans during this economic recession. The View’s liberal hosts were outraged by the ad and vigorously defended the House Speaker from the “morons” attacking her. Co-host Sunny Hostin completely dismissed the scathing ad that used Pelosi’s own words as “manufactured outrage” from Fox News.
Co-host Whoopi Goldberg complained that “you-know-who” (President Trump) was “blaming” and “scapegoating” Pelosi for holding up a small business stimulus relief package in a new campaign ad. The hosts then played the ad, which featured Pelosi showing off her expensive ice cream collection in front of her $24,000 refrigerators on James Corden’s show and on Twitter, all the while boasting about how the Democrats were holding up federal relief funds for small businesses. Pelosi’s shocking, tone-deaf admission earned her mockery online and provided easy fodder for a Republican campaign ad but Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar were not amused. They scrambled to defend the Democrat:
“You know, the Democrats are, in fact, fighting for more funding for hospitals as well as relief for small businesses for minorities and veterans, okay? That's what the Democrats are fighting for, so this is just another distraction,” Behar fumed.
Whoopi complained that Pelosi shouldn’t abstain from flaunting her wealth during this pandemic just because “morons” in the GOP would attack her.
“There's nothing wrong with that. Just because someone is going to turn around and make you look bad doesn't stop the fact that you can't stop living because you're working with morons,” Whoopi sneered.
Sunny Hostin instead claimed that no one was upset at Pelosi and this was just “manufactured outrage” from Fox News:
But back to the James Corden interview that was like a week ago with Nancy Pelosi, I mean, that's just manufactured. I think Fox News outrage and Republican outrage. They're talking about but her freezer, but her freezer. I'm really worried about the bodies that I saw being put into freezers in New York. That's what I'm worried about.
Hostin went on to claim that President Trump was personally responsible for tens of thousands of deaths due to COVID-19:
“This is about the coronavirus and this is about the Trump administration's failure to address it properly, failure to address it properly, leading to over 40,000 lost American lives. Let's not miss the point, people,” she raged.
McCain was the only host to disagree, saying this was an “effective attack ad” because Pelosi was standing in front of an expensive refrigerator, eating expensive ice cream, while joking about holding up money for small businesses.
It’s worth noting that this Pelosi defense came directly after the hosts attacked Georgia and Florida’s Republican governors for reopening beaches and certain businesses in their respective states.
Read the transcript, below:
The View
4/21/2020
WHOOPI GOLDBERG: So the House and Senate are reportedly about to reach an agreement on a small business stimulus package, but last night you-know-who's campaign launched an attack ad blaming the one person in particular for holding things up.
[PLAYS TRUMP CAMPAIGN AD]
GOLDBERG: So, I want to point out that the ice cream she's talking about actually comes from a small business. I know that because I send this ice cream out to people, and she is one of the people that is fighting to make sure that small businesses are able to get the testing they need and the stuff that they need. So Joy, you kind of feel like she's being scapegoated here?
JOY BEHAR: Of course. But I love that you just said that that's a small business. That's perfect. You know, the Democrats are, in fact, fighting for more funding for hospitals as well as relief for small businesses for minorities and veterans, okay? That's what the Democrats are fighting for, so this is just another distraction. You know, okay, it doesn't look good maybe. She's got an expensive refrigerator. Let's go to Trump Tower and see what kind of refrigerator he has, you know? But yesterday Trump, I don't know if you saw this, yesterday he's bragging about how much people love him. In the middle of death and dying this narcissist is talking about how beloved he is. So when it comes to optics, Nancy's got nothing on Donald. And may I just -- a little piece of advice to Nancy and all these Democrats, don't go on comedy shows. They're traps. They're traps. They get you to say things there because you feel you're being funny. Leave it to the professionals and don't go on comedy shows. Come on our show.
GOLDBERG: Do go on. You have every right to say what's in your refrigerator. The man asked you. There's nothing wrong with that. Just because someone is going to turn around and make you look bad doesn't stop the fact that you stop living because you're working with morons. Meghan, last night you tweeted that this ad was a savage blow.
MEGHAN MCCAIN: I thought it was a kill shot. It's not the ice cream in her fridge. It's the fact that she's standing behind giant refrigerators, multiple ones that cost $24,000 each, and you're right, Joy, politicians are wealthy, trump is wealthy, but I think in this specific moment, optics are narratives. I don't make the rules of politics. This is just how it works and when it looks like -- what she's saying in the video and I also agree with joy that if I were advising any politician at this point I would also say tread very carefully with a comedy show. This is not the time or the moment to be doing something like this. I also agree, there are too many mine fields you can step into in a situation like this and this is an effective attack ad and she's talking about a quarter of a trillion dollars that she is holding up for small businesses.
Now again, I understand Democrats and Republicans are going to view this from different lens but seeing $24,000 refrigerator and joking about holding up money for small businesses at the same time they're showing videos of people saying that they're starving and showing pictures of their fridges which are empty, it is very effective. Trust me when I say this, it will play very well in the middle of the country. At the same time you have AOC last night tweeting and then deleting a tweet where she's talking about how she loves to see declining oil prices because, again, people are not buying gas because they're not going to work because they're out of work and we can't work right now. There's a bunch of people in the oil industry that are now going to be jobless and she's making jokes about it right now.
GOLDBERG: Sunny, you think the Democrats are holding out -- should be holding out because of the way the stimulus funds have been mismanaged?
SUNNY HOSTIN: Well, certainly I think the stimulus funds have been mismanaged. I don't think anyone should be holding out. I think everyone should get to work and make sure that these small businesses have the money that they need. But back to the James corden interview that was like a week ago with Nancy Pelosi, I mean, that's just manufactured. I think Fox News outrage and Republican outrage. They're talking about but her freezer, but her freezer. I'm really worried about the bodies that I saw being put into freezers in New York. That's what I'm worried about. I'm really worried about the fact that there's no testing being done, the fact that the -- you know, the vice president is saying that we are testing 150,000 people a day and that that's enough. Well, that's not enough because it would take six years to test everyone. So that's really, you know, what I'm worried about. Blaming some democratic message for Trump's incompetence and for Trump's negligence in managing this crisis is absolutely ludicrous. This is not a democratic problem. This is not a Republican problem. This is the coronavirus and this is about the Trump administration's failure to address it properly, failure to address it properly, leading to over 40,000 lost American lives. Let's not miss the point, people.
