Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) drew outrage on Thursday after she ominously warned U.S. Olympic athletes not to dare protest China or else something could happen to their families. But on ABC’s The View on Friday, co-host Joy Behar and special co-host Star Jones defended Pelosi’s warning by suggesting she was just being “maternal” because “she cares about the kids.”
“Just a few hours ago, the Olympics officially kicked off in Beijing, but the controversy started before the torch was even lit. Here's how Speaker Nancy Pelosi is warning athletes they should keep their political opinions to themselves while they're in China,” Behar announced before playing the soundbite of Pelosi.
But before Behar and Jones could voice their support for Pelosi, co-host Ana Navarro stepped up to slam the demand. “I don't like this at all. I don't like her having to say that at all,” she said.
Navarro slammed Pelosi’s request as totally “un-American.” “What China has done to the Uyghurs is something that should be protested, and if there is any athlete who wants to have the courage to do that, and I understand this is about athleticism, but it's also a huge worldwide platform,” she declared.
She then turned her ire on the International Olympic Committee for their affinity for authoritarian nations:
The ones I'm angry at is the International Olympic Committee who keep looking at places and hosting things and hosting things in places like Sochi. If we know that China has committed genocide and has imprisoned over 1 million Uyghurs, why are they being allowed to host an Olympic game, which is a huge honor for any country?
Jones spoke up next suggesting she saw the importance of protesting but argued “the Speaker is trying to make sure that the athletes don't step in it and that they're safe.” And noting that China’s treatment of COVID-positive athletes “freighted” her, Jones stated: “We think about the allegations of human rights violations all the time, and we want our athletes to be able to go, compete, get home safely.”
She then suggested that the U.S. had “no diplomats there” to negotiate. “[O]ur athletes wouldn't even have anybody to advocate for them,” she warned.
Behar jumped in to back up Jones by praising Pelosi’s motherly instincts and doted her incessant claims she’s thinking about the children:
JONES: So, I see what the Speaker is saying. I think she's really just trying to make sure--
BEHAR: She's being maternal I think.
HAINES: It feels like that.
BEHAR: Nancy is Momala. She’s always like, “I think about the children. It's for the children.” She cares about the kids. That's her.
Navarro dismantled Jones’s false claims about diplomats by noting we still have “a full embassy. What we don't have are people like the first lady or the president or diplomats from America. We're not sending dignitaries from America. So we have -- they better not imprison one of our athletes.”
While these three were focused on China’s human rights abuses and how they would treat our athletes, Sara Haines was more concerned about the fake snow:
This is the first winter Olympics that will be 100 percent manmade snow. Now, that projects to pull 49 million gallons of water from natural resources. There are pesticides in there to keep the snow cold, that's what it does. And it melts into the groundwater, poisoning everything that eats it, the things growing on it.
“Now, this has been an ongoing trend because the Earth is warming. They usually have at least, like at least 70 percent manmade. This is the first 100 percent,” she huffed.
This support for Speaker Pelosi’s anti-protest stance was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from CarShield and Downy. Their contact information is linked.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
ABC’s The View
February 4, 2022
11:05:00 a.m. EasternJOY BEHAR: Just a few hours ago, the Olympics officially kicked off in Beijing, but the controversy started before the torch was even lit. Here's how Speaker Nancy Pelosi is warning athletes they should keep their political opinions to themselves while they're in China. Watch.
SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): I would say to our athletes, you're there to compete. Do not risk incurring the anger of the Chinese government because they are ruthless. I know there is a temptation on the part of some to speak out while they are there. I respect that, but I also worry about what the Chinese government might do to their reputations, to their families.
BEHAR: Wow.
ANA NAVARRO: I don't like this at all. I don't like her having to say that at all.
BEHAR: Diplomats are protesting by skipping the games altogether, but she's telling them to not -- don't start up.
NAVARRO: That's so un-American. You know? It's so un-- what China has done to the Uyghurs is something that should be protested, and if there is any athlete who wants to have the courage to do that, and I understand this is about athleticism, but it's also a huge worldwide platform.
The ones I'm angry at is the International Olympic Committee who keep looking at places and hosting things and hosting things in places like Sochi. If we know that China has committed genocide and has imprisoned over 1 million Uyghurs, why are they being allowed to host an Olympic game, which is a huge honor for any country?
STAR JONES: I actually can see both sides, because I think the Speaker is trying to make sure that the athletes don't step in it and that they're safe. You know? We think about the allegations of human rights violations all the time, and we want our athletes to be able to go, compete, get home safely. I think about that young woman who was so scared after she tested positive for COVID, and then they took her in a roundabout way. They didn't bring her right to the village. So, it freighted me.
I understand what the Speaker is trying to say. But of course, when you are given a platform like we have right here, you want to speak out, but with no diplomats there, our athletes wouldn't even have anybody to advocate for them.
SARA HINES: Yeah.
JONES: So, I see what the Speaker is saying. I think she's really just trying to make sure--
BEHAR: She's being maternal I think.
HAINES: It feels like that.
BEHAR: Nancy is Momala. She’s always like, “I think about the children. It's for the children.” She cares about the kids. That's her.
NAVARRO: Because that image of those two athletes with their hands up in the air, Jesse Owens, and it's one of the most inspirational images in history.
JONES: I agree.
NAVARRO: And we do have diplomatic -- we have a full embassy. What we don't have are people like the first lady or the president or diplomats from America. We're not sending dignitaries from America. So we have -- they better not imprison one of our athletes.
JONES: I don't want our athletes to even be put in that trick bag because they told you not to bring your cell phones.
HAINES: Yeah.
JONES: They said, get a throwaway phone like you're a bunch of drug dealers or something. So, you have to have a toss-away phone so that people can't monitor you. I just get nervous about it. I don't even want us there to be honest with you. We're in the middle of a global pandemic.
HAINES: You were saying the political ramifications of where we hold these. I'm upset at the International Olympic Committee for not being more concerned about the environment.
JONES: Thank you.
HAINES: This is the first winter Olympics that will be 100 percent manmade snow. Now, that projects to pull 49 million gallons of water from natural resources. There are pesticides in there to keep the snow cold, that's what it does. And it melts into the groundwater, poisoning everything that eats it, the things growing on it.
So, I tend to think that, why are we holding winter Olympics in places that can't provide some of the snow? Now, this has been an ongoing trend because the Earth is warming. They usually have at least, like, at least 70 percent manmade. This is the first 100 percent.
(…)
