Since last Friday, ABC News has avoided mentioning President Biden’s new primary challenger Congressman Dean Phillips (D-MN) on their flagship newscasts (Good Morning America and World News Tonight). They relegated all mentions of Phillips’ campaign to side programming like America This Morning (at 5 a.m.), This Week (their Sunday show), and The View, which spent part of their Monday episode railing against Phillips for having “a lot” of “arrogance” for thinking he could challenge Joe Biden, “the GOAT” of presidents.
After playing a sound bit of Phillips’ interview with CBS News, racist and anti-Semitic co-host Sunny Hostin shouted: “Who is that?!” She then proceeded to ridiculously suggest that Phillips shouldn’t have jumped into the race without first turning out the entire Democratic Party base ahead of time and how dare he run against the savior of the country:
That's my problem. It’s like, I think if you are going to take on a president who has done so much for this country so far, and has restored in many ways the soul of this country, which was his promise, you've got to have some kind of name recognition I think. You need – I need to be excited. I need to -- you need to be able to get the young voters out. You need to get the independents out. You need to get the black folks out. I looked at him, like, okay.
Fake conservative Ana Navarro, who once bragged about introducing her “wealthy clients” to allegedly corrupt Democratic Senator Bob Menendez (NJ), discounted Phillips as just a “wealthy guy in his 50s having a midlife crisis and I guess instead of buying a convertible corvette or a building a yacht, he decided to run for president.”
“I think it takes a lot of…arrogance to in November – practically, we're in November tomorrow – think that you can all of a sudden do this,” she squealed. “Look, the primary in New Hampshire is less than three months away. The caucuses in Iowa are less than three months away. You don't just drop, like, manna from heaven and think, here I am right now, your savior warrior.” She failed to mention Biden was not on the New Hampshire ballot.
It’s ironic Navarro would mention that buying a convertible Corvette was a sign of a midlife crisis when that’s exactly what Biden did, but then again she was a Biden sycophant. “Mother Teresa could resuscitate and I would still support Joe Biden...Frankly, I'm going to support Joe Biden until Joe Biden tells me he's not running. Until then, I’m not entertaining this,” she proclaimed last month.
Co-host Sara Haines rejected Navarro’s midlife crisis comparison, calling it “reductive.” She argued that he was trying to make sure Democrats were better than Republicans because the right “pick party over people and power over people.”
Moderator Whoopi Goldberg decried Phillips’ efforts to get young blood into office as just “ageism” and “an insult to people over 50,” yet Phillips himself was 54.
The other faux conservative, Alyssa Farah Griffin made the mistake of admitting that Biden was one of the most unpopular presidents in history. That fact triggered Goldberg, who started shouting that Biden was the “GOAT” (the greatest of all time) of presidents (Click “expand”):
FARAH GRIFFIN: I don't think it's just the age. It's the historic unpopularity. He's on par with Jimmy Carter who was a one-term president.
GOLDBERG: And yet -- yet he's revered now. He's the GOAT. So he's the GOAT before he leaves!
FARAH GRIFFIN: But if I may just press on this because we had Rachel Maddow on the show who we all respect regardless of our political stripes. And she said Donald Trump could absolute by be re-elected again.
GOLDBERG: Yes!
FARAH GRIFFIN: We all agreed he's an existential threat to the public, so I'm failing to understand how Democrats, despite polling that has bared this out –
GOLDBERG: Because people are like me don't believe the polls.
FARAH GRIFFIN: But without the polling. So, take the polling aside, you really think that the oldest man in history -- the oldest presidential candidate in history is the best candidate to beat Donald Trump?
GOLDBERG: Careful what you say. Careful what you say.
As they were nearing the commercial break, Navarro needed to compare the election to things that could be ingested and decried the idea that the election should be anything but a binary choice. “You can go to Starbucks and you can pick from ten different types of milk. But this is going to be a binary choice and you're going to have to pick between two old men: one who is a criminal and one who’s got a moral compass,” she proclaimed.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
ABC’s The View
October 30, 2023
11:24:12 a.m. Eastern(…)
REP. DEAN PHILLIPS (D-MN): This is an election about the future. I will not sit still. I will not be quiet in the face of numbers that are so clearly saying that we're going to be facing an emergency next November.
[Cuts back to live]
SUNNY HOSTIN: Who is that?!
[Laughter]
WHOOPI GOLDBERG: Apparently he was elected in 2018.
HOSTIN: That's my problem. It’s like, I think if you are going to take on a president who has done so much for this country so far, and has restored in many ways the soul of this country, which was his promise, you've got to have some kind of name recognition I think. You need – I need to be excited. I need to -- you need to be able to get the young voters out. You need to get the independents out. You need to get the black folks out. I looked at him, like, okay.
SARA HAINES: You just met him though, Sunny. Give him a minute.
HOSTIN: I don't know. It wasn't exciting.
ANA NAVARRO: To me, you know, to me he's a very wealthy guy who by all accounts is very nice. People -- His colleagues in congress say good things about him, like him. He's a wealthy guy in his 50s having a midlife crisis and I guess instead of buying a convertible corvette or a building a yacht, he decided to run for president. Hey, different strokes for different folks.
HOSTIN: At least he has experience.
NAVARRO: I think it takes a lot of – a little bit of arrogance to in November – practically, we're in November tomorrow – think that you can all of a sudden do this.
Look, the primary in New Hampshire is less than three months away. The caucuses in Iowa are less than three months away. You don't just drop, like, manna from heaven and think, here I am right now, your savior warrior.
HAINES: I think it's reductive to call it – sorry – a midlife crisis because when you read the articles about why he's doing it, he also mentions, Republicans stand in line and pick party over people and power over people, Democrats don't do that. They're asking everyone, despite the numbers, to not speak up because they consider it an insult to the administration. He was saying, I don't want to stand by when I'm seeing these numbers; is everyone going to ignore them because we could end up with Donald Trump?
I commend him for saying, I'm going to look at all of it and that's the best I can do. He can't create name recognition for himself right now.
GOLDBERG: But what would be nice is if he said, “listen, here's the things we can do.” I don't like people who start with this age stuff. I'm really over this ageism. I'm really over it because it's an insult to people over 50. It's not, you know, it's not about, you know, it's not about – We're also in the future. We see the future too. We planned for your future. That's what we did.
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: I don't think it's just the age. It's the historic unpopularity. He's on par with Jimmy Carter who was a one-term president.
GOLDBERG: And yet -- yet he's revered now. He's the GOAT. So he's the GOAT before he leaves!
FARAH GRIFFIN: But if I may just press on this because we had Rachel Maddow on the show who we all respect regardless of our political stripes. And she said Donald Trump could absolute by be re-elected again.
GOLDBERG: Yes!
FARAH GRIFFIN: We all agreed he's an existential threat to the public, so I'm failing to understand how Democrats, despite polling that has bared this out –
GOLDBERG: Because people are like me don't believe the polls.
FARAH GRIFFIN: But without the polling. So, take the polling aside, you really think that the oldest man in history -- the oldest presidential candidate in history is the best candidate to beat Donald Trump?
GOLDBERG: Careful what you say. Careful what you say. Because a lot of people – There are people –
HOSTIN: Yes.
FARAH GRIFFIN: You do – You don't think there's anybody who can perform better?
HOSTIN: I think this country has a moral compass and they look at a twice-impeached, disgraced, four-time indicted criminal! And I think they say, “That guy may be old, but that guy’s a criminal.”
[Applause]
NAVARRO: There are a lot of things that are --
HAINES: Alyssa, I actually do believe the polls and I think there's not the privilege of another option. I don't think there's someone that we can find right now that we could throw up there that has any chance against a better name.
FARAH GRIFFIN: I agree that the timing is too late. But—
NAVARRO: Listen, there’s a lot of things in life that are not binary choices. You can go to Starbucks and you can pick from ten different types of milk. But this is going to be a binary choice and you're going to have to pick between two old men: one who is a criminal --
HOSTIN: Yep.
NAVARRO: -- and one who’s got a moral compass. Those are your choices, allegedly.
GOLDBERG: We’ll be right back.
