You know The View is one of the most far-left shows on television when they go after Van Jones and Don Lemon of all people, for not being woke enough to their liking. On Thursday’s show, the most liberal hosts criticized the CNN host for his reasonable take on the police shooting in Ohio this week.
The show opened by playing a snippet from Lemon’s commentary last night defending the police officer who fatally shot teenager Ma' Khia Bryant as she was about to stab another girl:
“When I look at this video, I see police responding to a dangerous incident where someone is armed with a knife. Police walked up on a situation and they need to figure out what is happening. Other lives are in danger,” he said, adding, “We need to be honest and use our common sense. We cannot have a double standard. We have to acknowledge that police have jobs to do.”
These rational comments provoked anger from leftist hosts Joy Behar and Sunny Hostin.
Behar, who is staunchly pro-gun control, seemed confused by how police are supposed to react in a potentially deadly situation. She suggested using a taser or shooting in the leg would’ve been a better approach:
Well, he texted me because I mentioned this case yesterday vis-a-vis the George Floyd case. He said, you know, that he -- the cop had no choice or something to that effect. My feeling is I don't know if that's true or not. I really can't figure it out anymore. I mean, it seems to me in a situation -- this is what it looked to me. I looked at the tape and still can't figure it out. Shoot the gun in the air as a warning. Tase a person. Shoot them in the leg. Shoot them in the behind. Stop them somehow. But if the only solution is to kill a teenager, there's something wrong with this. There's something very very wrong with the way these things are being conducted. Even if the cop had to do it, there's something wrong with it. I can't explain it any better than that. He and I were going back and forth last night because he has a completely different view of this. But, all I can say is, We keep talking about this over and over and kids still keep getting shot. It's like the gun issue in this country. People keep getting shot and nothing ever gets done about it. It's a very frustrating conversation to have. But I can't add much to it.
Hostin was much angrier and scolded, “Don is wrong, here:”
Well, you know, Don Lemon and I are dear, dear friends. We've been dear friends for a long time. Dear friends oftentimes disagree. Don is wrong here. You know, my question is, you know, why is deadly force always the first order of business and especially the first order of business when it comes to black and brown people in this country.
The host repeatedly downplayed the dangerous situation the officer was walking into to insist deadly force was a racist excuse:
We shouldn't live in a country quite frankly where it's acceptable for the police to shoot a 16-year-old four times in the chest over a fight. It goes from zero to execution very, very quickly when there is a black or brown person involved. That is just the truth. Don is comparing this case to the case of George Floyd. Okay. George Floyd was 46 years old. You have an officer kneeling on his neck for you know, 9 minutes and 26 seconds. She was 16 years old, in foster care. Yes, she was yielding a knife, but there were other girls also allegedly attacking her.
Hostin went on to argue there was a racist double standard for young white shooters like Dylann Roof and Robert Aaron Long, who were taken into custody by cops without deadly force being used. Her argument conveniently ignores the fact that these murderers had already committed their evil crimes before they were caught and neither were in the process of hurting someone when they were arrested.
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Read the relevant transcript below:
The View
4/22/2021
WHOOPI GOLDBERG: So Joy, you were talking to Don Lemon about this last night apparently. Tell us.
JOY BEHAR: Well, he texted me because I mentioned this case yesterday vis-a-vis the George Floyd case. He said, you know, that he -- the cop had no choice or something to that effect. My feeling is I don't know if that's true or not. I really can't figure it out anymore. I mean, it seems to me in a situation -- this is what it looked to me. I looked at the tape and still can't figure it out. Shoot the gun in the air as a warning. Tase a person. Shoot them in the leg. Shoot them in the behind. Stop them somehow. But if the only solution is to kill a teenager, there's something wrong with this. There's something very very wrong with the way these things are being conducted. Even if the cop had to do it, there's something wrong with it. I can't explain it any better than that. He and I were going back and forth last night because he has a completely different view of this. But, all I can say is, We keep talking about this over and over and kids still keep getting shot. It's like the gun issue in this country. People keep getting shot and nothing ever gets done about it. It's a very frustrating conversation to have. But I can't add much to it.
WHOOPI GOLDBERG: Okay. Sunny, was deescalating the situation possibly not an option here? I notice there were other police on the side. You know, what's your thought about this?
SUNNY HOSTIN: Well, you know, Don Lemon and I are dear, dear friends. We've been dear friends for a long time. Dear friends oftentimes disagree. Don is wrong here. You know, my question is, you know, why is deadly force always the first order of business and especially the first order of business when it comes to black and brown people in this country. I mean, when is it okay and why is it okay? We shouldn't live in a country quite frankly where it's acceptable for the police to shoot a 16-year-old four times in the chest over a fight. It goes from zero to execution very, very quickly when there is a black or brown person involved. That is just the truth. Don is comparing this case to the case of George Floyd. Okay. George Floyd was 46 years old. You have an officer kneeling on his neck for you know, 9 minutes and 26 seconds. She was 16 years old, in foster care. Yes, she was yielding a knife, but there were other girls also allegedly attacking her.
Let's compare apples to apples. Let's compare this young girl, 16 years old or 17 years old, to other 17-year-olds. Let's compare her to Kyle Rittenhouse. Video was taken 15 minutes before Rittenhouse allegedly shot and killed two people. He was carrying an assault weapon. You know what officers did? The video shows the police shared water with him and thanked him for his presence. Also after the shooting, he was able to leave the scene, even though caught on video he walked towards police with his hands up as protesters yelled that he had shot people. Let's also compare him to the Atlanta shooter Robert Aaron Long. He was taken into custody without incident. You know what the officer said that arrested him, he was having a really bad day. How about comparing him to Dylan Roof, he killed nine churchgoers. He was treated so kindly by police that he was taken to a Burger King. So was deescalation a possibility here in this case? Not with this black girl, not at all.
...WHOOPI GOLDBERG: ...16-year-olds do dumb stuff. Okay. They think they can take care of stuff. Now they're not thinking, oh, the cops are not going to know I'm the one that called….My question is, okay, is there a way for people not to shoot first? I mean, we've heard somebody say, you know, well there are tasers. Why didn't they tase them? ...
