As part of the media tour for her money-grab memoir Growing Up Biden, President Biden’s sister Valerie Biden Owens appeared with ABC’s resident coven, The View on Tuesday. And as one might expect, they gushed about “the great, fabulous Joe Biden” (as Joy Behar proclaimed) and how “he runs the gamut of emotions” and how they “love that about him.” So, NewsBusters presents some of the dumber questions the cast queried Owens with.
The hands-down most ridiculous question came from Behar herself at the top of the segment, setting the tone for the rest: “What was he like as a kid?”
And after a now-cliché question about the Biden family and tragedy from Sara Haines, co-host Sunny Hostin asked the most critical question (with some pushback from Behar) demanding to know why Biden chooses to supposedly work with Republicans to get things past:
HOSTIN: My question to you is, are you surprised to see how hard they are making things for him? Because to me he sat next to the first black president and he knew how they treated him. It's so naive for him to think this Republican Party would be different.
BEHAR: Naive or he's just got fortitude?
Conceding to Behar that they had to be nicer to the Bidens, Hostin suggested “he thinks the best of people” while she sees “the worst of people.” “Was he surprised how he's being treated by his friends across the aisle,” she changed up her phrasing.
“He spent 35 years in the Senate. There was such a comradery and congeniality that doesn't exist anymore,” Owens lamented. And in trying to give examples of her brother getting bipartisan support, she couldn’t remember the name of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who was just confirmed last Friday, calling her the “first Supreme Court justice, the African-American woman.”
Fox News recently reported that in her book, Owens makes the outrageous claim that Democrats are the “pro-life” party. “Instead of wanting to be called ‘pro-choice,’ she says they should have chosen to be the ‘pro-life’ party because they are advocating for better lives for women,” Cameron Cawthorne and Joe Schoffstall wrote.
And keeping with that notion of spewing nonsense, Owens claimed: “he’s created more jobs than anybody in the first year.” “He sure has,” Hostin agreed.
For the final question, after gushing about a story in the book featuring Owens and her brother stealing ice cream from the White House kitchen, self-proclaimed Republican Alyssa Farah Griffin couldn’t think up an original question and essentially asked Hostin’s again:
We live in such a divided time, as Sunny mentioned. Where do – I’m a Republican, where do you see the President being able to work with Republicans going forward in the next two years ahead of the election.
A more serious questioner from the right should have asked about how Biden planned to work with Republicans after they take Congress in the midterms. She could have also asked about the Biden family’s business dealings through Hunter and Jim Biden, her other brother, including how can Joe can claim he doesn’t talk to Hunter about his business dealings while posing for pictures with his partners?
“Well, we're cheering him on. And we're cheering you on,” Behar ended the interview.
These ridiculous questions were made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from Ensure and Olay. Their contact information is linked.
The complete post is below, click "expand" to read:
ABC’s The View
April 12, 2022
11:51:10 a.m. Eastern(…)
SUNNY HOSTIN: This book is great. And you do see so much family in it. And you talk about having run seven senates and two presidential campaigns for your brother. The first time you two went for it you were both in your 20s. You had no prior experience. And your brother is known for his ability to reach across the aisle and make friends with members of the Republican Party.
My question to you is, are you surprised to see how hard they are making things for him? Because to me he sat next to the first black president and he knew how they treated him. It's so naive for him to think this Republican Party would be different.
JOY BEHAR: Naive or he's just got fortitude?
HOSTIN: I think Joe – because we all know him and adore him, he thinks the best of people.
BEHAR: Yeah.
HOSTIN: And I see sometimes the worst of people.
VALERIE BIDEN OWENS: Well, my brother does appeal to the better angels.
HOSTIN: He does.
BIDEN OWENS: And that's why we won in 2020. Am I surprised at the -- what was your first question? What the hell did you ask me?
[Laughter]
BEHAR: That was an hour ago.
HOSTIN: Was he surprised how he's being treated by his friends across the aisle?
BIDEN OWENS: I don't think -- I think he's disappointed and not in -- my brother is extraordinarily proud to be president of the United States. But he’s – The but part is he's a Senate man. He spent 35 years in the Senate. There was such a comradery and congeniality that doesn't exist anymore. So he – But look, he has reached across the aisle. Look at infrastructure.
HOSTIN: That’s true.
BIDEN OWENS: Look at our first Supreme Court justice, the African-American woman.
HOSTIN: Yeah.
BIDEN OWENS: So, he's – he’s created more jobs than anybody in the first year.
HOSTIN: He sure has.
BIDEN: It's working still. It's harder and I am disappointed. And I'm sure he's disappointed. I'm fiercer than he is. You know, you don’t like – you know, when your brother or your child is – you know they meet adversity, you want to go in there and fight. He's a lot calmer.
BEHAR: Do we have time for one more question?
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: Real quick. Valerie. I have to say my favorite anecdote in your book is you visiting the President at the White House and he goes and steals ice cream from the fridge and you guys just enjoy it together.
But real quick. We live in such a divided time, as Sunny mentioned. Where do – I’m a Republican, where do you see the President being able to work with Republicans going forward in the next two years ahead of the election.
BIDEN OWENS: I think – appealing to their better instincts. Look, I think a leader, no matter if it’s president or whoever, a leader has to have basic characteristics and they have to have the temperament and the character and the empathy and the intelligence. When my brother keeps working like that, he's going to make things -- people are going to listen to him.
BEHAR: Well, we're cheering him on. And we're cheering you on.
BIDEN OWNES: Thank you.
