It was all hands on deck Tuesday morning as the cackling coven of ABC’s The View tried desperately to defend President Biden from the newly revealed fact that he stole classified documents when he was vice president. Whoopi Goldberg argued there’s a difference between “classified classified or just classified,” while others said that it didn’t hold a candle to what former President Trump did with classified documents.
Goldberg began the segment with the Biden administration’s talking points. “So, the White House says it's been cooperating with the National Archives and the Justice Department's review since November after discovering classified documents from when the President was the VP,” she parroted as she mocked Republicans for “suddenly losing [their] mind[s].”
Co-host Joy Behar followed up by admitting she and her co-hosts were intentionally being hypocrites because they’re fans of Biden:
We all know that Trump is a liar and a thief, you know, we know that. So it's not that big a jump to say that he obstructed and he lied. We don't think Biden is a liar and a thief so we give him the benefit of the doubt. That’s partly what’s going on.
A short time later, she seriously suggested that lying in Washington started with Trump. “The lying has been so invasive, so ubiquitous that no one will believe the truth anymore. And you can put that at the feet of Donald Trump, who started the lying,” she decried.
Speaking of lies, racist co-host Sunny Hostin argued Trump taking documents to Mar-a-Lago was way worse and invented lies about how the documents were stored at the resort. She falsely claimed Trump and his staff “kept them in toilets” and “on the floor.”
For her part, Sara Haines scoffed at those who called out the media for their hypocrisy in treating Trump and Biden differently. “Well, everything about [Donald Trump] was unprecedented. So, I think when you look intention matter,” she defended them.
Claiming her “first reaction in hearing this story wasn't to justify President Biden,” Haines proceeded to do just that:
It was almost like, “Okay. You got 300 documents at the gold castle in Florida. You’ve got 10 documents down the street in a public building locked in a closet. We don’t know what the classification is.”
To be fair, it may not have been her “first reaction” but it was the reaction she had on air.
Dipping into the world of conspiracy theories, Behar pushed the long-debunked lie that Trump was looking to sell the documents to Russia. “So, the idea that he has classified information that can be given to these people is a much greater sin than forgetting they were in that particular spot,” she shrieked.
Goldberg echoed her infamous defense of actor Roman Polanski and “rape rape” by suggesting it may be a lie that the documents Biden stole were classified. “We're being told they're classified. We don't know if it's like classified classified or just classified. We don't know,” she mocked.
Republican Alyssa Farah Griffin was the only one being honest about how serious Biden’s crime was. “I would have been in prison if I took one classified document home,” she said as Behar and Goldberg interrupted to defend the President from himself. Hostin scolded her by suggesting comparing Biden and Trump was “like comparing apples to orangutans.”
“The legal standard is not where you keep the classified documents. The only place it could be a SCIF. So, even if you put a lock on the door, that doesn’t legally change the fact that you did not transport them securely,” Farah Griffin pushed back.
But Farah Griffin’s biggest concern was how this could “kill the case” for indicting Trump:
I want to be clear the facts are different than the Trump case. However, I think this is a huge win for Trump because if you're Merrick Garland is already extremely cautious and doesn't want to break the longstanding precedent of not indicting a president, it's very hard to make the case that Donald Trump should be indicted for this, even though the facts are different when he can argue now the vice president also took home classified documents. I think this kills the case.
Haines agreed.
The View’s admitted hypocrisy in defending Biden’s theft of documents was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from Ensure and Dawn. Their contact information is linked.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
ABC’s The View
January 10, 2023
11:02:12 a.m. EasternWHOOPI GOLDBERG: So, the White House says it's been cooperating with the National Archives and the Justice Department's review since November after discovering classified documents from when the President was the VP. And they were locked in his old office. Now, this has Republicans like Congressman Byron Donalds suddenly losing his mind and taking the matter of holding on to classified documents very, very seriously suddenly.
(…)
11:03:42 a.m. Eastern
GOLDBERG: There are some perhaps differences here. The optics are not necessarily the best. Is it good news for you-know-who? Anything that makes us talk about him is good news for him.
JOY BEHAR: Not really. I think what you just said is right. That there are differences in what happened.
GOLDBERG: Yes, but the optics are not good.
BEHAR: We all know that Trump is a liar and a thief, you know, we know that.
[Cheers and applause]
So it's not that big a jump to say that he obstructed and he lied. We don't think Biden is a liar and a thief so we give him the benefit of the doubt. That’s partly what’s going on.
(…)
11:04:45 a.m. Eastern
BEHAR: The lying has been so invasive, so ubiquitous that no one will believe the truth anymore. And you can put that at the feet of Donald Trump who started the lying.
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: So, absolutely no one is going to like the take, but I’m going to go there anyway. It is a big deal, I held a TSSCI security clearance, I would have been in prison if I took one classified document home. It worries me so many senior officials –
BEHAR: Did he take it home?
GOLDBERG: No, he didn’t take it home it was at his –
FARAH GRIFFIN: He took it outside a secured location.
GOLDBERG: But it was in a locked – it was locked in the – in the secure – so that’s what it was supposed to be. I didn’t mean to interrupt, I’m sorry.
FARAH GRIFFIN: I want to be clear the facts are different than the Trump case. However, I think this is a huge win for Trump because if you're Merrick Garland is already extremely cautious and doesn't want to break the longstanding precedent of not indicting a president, it's very hard to make the case that Donald Trump should be indicted for this, even though the facts are different when he can argue now the vice president also took home classified documents. I think this kills the case.
SUNNY HOSTIN: I disagree with that.
FARAH GRIFFIN: The only difference is obstruction, which Trump did engage in obstruction.
HOSTIN: Obstruction is a big deal.
FARAH GRIFFIN: It is a big deal.
HOSTIN: And facts matter. And let's not talk about alternative facts. Okay? Because let's talk about the fact that Donald Trump was asked to return the documents voluntarily, refused, then refused several subpoenas. Kept them in toilets and kept them not in a locked place and kept them on the floor.
BEHAR: Anybody could have found them.
HOSTIN: Anybody could’ve had access. He had top-secret classified information including things that would put people's lives in danger including nuclear documents and there were 300 documents found. So, you cannot –
FARAH GRIFFIN: But the legal standard --
HOSTIN: -- compare one to the other. That’s like comparing apples to orangutans. Completely different.
FARAH GRIFFIN: The legal standard is not where you keep the classified documents. The only place it could be a SCIF. So, even if you put a lock on the door, that doesn’t legally change the fact that you did not transport them securely.
HOSTIN: It does legally change the intent element.
(…)
11:07:39 a.m. Eastern
SARA HAINES: You know, there are a lot of people on one side that like to react like, “He's treated differently. Why is he treated differently?” Well, everything about him [Donald Trump] was unprecedented. So, I think when you look intention matters.
My first reaction in hearing this story wasn't to justify President Biden. It was almost like, “Okay. You got 300 documents at the gold castle in Florida. You’ve got 10 documents down the street in a public building locked in a closet. We don’t know what the classification is.”
I don't excuse laziness or negligence. Because I know, even back with Hillary [Clinton] when they talked about this was kind of just loose handling. That needs to be addressed. But I think we don't know enough quite yet to see what these documents are.
The thing I will give you is what Alyssa said, I don't think was good for the case against Donald Trump.
BEHAR: She may be right about that. But let’s not forget Trump was all cozied up with dictators all over the world.
HAINES: Yeah, everything about him.
BEHAR: He's in love with Kim Jong-un.
HOSTIN: Well, he kept his love letter from Kim Jong-un.
BEHAR: His love letter to Putin. All of that. So, the idea that he has classified information that can be given to these people is a much greater sin than forgetting they were in that particular spot.
FARAH GRIFFIN: And I have worries – By the way, Mar-a-Lago was infiltrated by Chinese spies. What Trump did, he should be indicted for. I just think the case Merrick Garland has to make is much harder because of this.
BEHAR: Isn’t there treason in here somewhere?
GOLDBERG: Depending on what it is, and they are in fact actual – We don’t know – We're being told they're classified. We don't know if it's like classified classified or just classified [serious tone and mocking tone]. We don't know.
(…)
11:09:38 a.m. Eastern
HOSTIN: I’m sorry. I have a legal note. These things get me hot! Okay, Trump has denied any wrongdoing with regards to the documents taken from Mar-a-Lago.
(…)
