Rarely is ABC’s The View kind to conservatives and Republicans, but Friday’s episode was one of those exceptions as left-leaning co-host Sara Haines called on and urged “young conservative minds” to get involved in politics and run for elected office. Her stated goal was to get more young people represented in Congress and noted that liberals often have a problem with ideological diversity.
Her comments came during a conversation to praise Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) leadership and her stepping down from Democratic leadership in the next Congress. “She had a real talent for keeping both young progressives and conservatives in line. She’s like the Italian mother, you know?” Joy Behar quipped, going on to note her life experience and later-in-life run for Congress at 47.
“I see nothing against people with a lot of experience being in government, but representation is more than just skin color or biological sex, it’s also young people because these laws affect everyone in the country,” Haines prefaced.
She called on young people to “Throw your hat in the ring because even before you're old enough to be elected, you can be participating in campaigns, learning how to use your voice and speak up in a room.”
And as part of that call to action, she singled out young conservatives because “a healthy democracy depends on two vibrant parties.” She then recalled how small the Republican student group was at her alma mater, all-girls Smith College:
Over the last, you know, four, six years due to obvious reasons. I won't list them. It's become unpopular for probably young conservatives. I was at a liberal arts school 20 years ago and I remember there were nine people in the Republican Party. Two of them lived near me so I knew them. I was, like, wow. Okay. This is it. I wasn't a Republican – I wasn't a member of the group, but my point being even then at a liberal arts school it wasn't popular. Can you imagine now how popular that is? Because we always say the left is inclusive until it comes to ideological differences.
“So, I think we really need be encouraging young conservative minds to get involved so there's another layer that kind of revives,” she added.
Unfortunately, the Republican group at Smith College isn’t a shining example of young conservatives of the future. According to a local report in the Daily Hampshire Gazette, in 2020, the club’s leadership disbanded the group “in response to President Donald Trump’s actions against Black Lives Matter protests and his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic…”
Despite having two so-called “conservatives” and “Republicans” on the show, Alyssa Farah Griffin and Ana Navarro, Haines was arguably doing more to help the right electorally than they were. Navarro celebrated Democratic wins in the 2022 midterms, while Farah Griffin has promoted Michelle Obama over conservative women and has been vocally eager to help elect Democrats in 2024.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
ABC’s The View
November 18, 2022
11:03:03 a.m. Eastern(…)
JOY BEHAR: She [Nancy Pelosi] had a real talent for keeping both young progressives and conservatives in line. She’s like the Italian mother, you know?
Is there someone in the next generation who can do that or do you need life experience like she had? You know, she didn't run for public office until she was 47. She had already had, I think five children and, you know, a whole other thing. Grew up in politics. Her father was a politician in Baltimore, so she had that background, but -- she's an inspiration.
SARA HAINES: I see nothing against people with a lot of experience being in government, but representation is more than just skin color or biological sex, it’s also young people because these laws affect everyone in the country.
And we saw Maxwell Frost out of – he’s the first Gen Z-er in Congress. He was here with us last week. And I think we need to inspire young people to go out and get involved. This isn’t like specializing as a lawyer or a doctor where it’s years and years and years of study. Throw your hat in the ring because even before you're old enough to be elected, you can be participating in campaigns, learning how to use your voice and speak up in a room. And I think we need this even more in the Republican Party. Because we talk here about a healthy democracy depends on two vibrant parties.
Over the last, you know, four, six years due to obvious reasons. I won't list them. It's become unpopular for probably young conservatives. I was at a liberal arts school 20 years ago and I remember there were nine people in the Republican Party. Two of them lived near me so I knew them. I was, like, wow. Okay. This is it. I wasn't a Republican – I wasn't a member of the group, but my point being even then at a liberal arts school it wasn't popular. Can you imagine now how popular that is? Because we always say the left is inclusive until it comes to ideological differences.
So, I think we really need be encouraging young conservative minds to get involved so there's another layer that kind of revives.
BEHAR: But having grownups in charge doesn't mean you eliminating young people.
HAINES: No, but there’s not enough representation of young people. That’s my point. We’ve got –definitely we’ve got a lot of wisdom and experience in Congress.
BEHAR: They're very loud. They're very loud on both sides in my opinion. AOC is loud. That Ilhan Omar is loud. Lauren Boebert is loud. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Matt Gaetz, they're all very loud and they’re very young.
HAINES: But when you look at Congress as a whole, there's not a lot of robust future McCains, future Obamas—
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: Especially the Senate is the thing.
(…)
