Vice President Kamala Harris made headlines earlier this week when she appeared on ABC’s The View and admitted that she was “scared” of former President Trump and the thought of him becoming president again. That kind of attention wasn’t good, so the cast came to her defense on Thursday to praise how “brave” Harris was for saying she’s “scared” of Trump. They also argued that she had every reason to rightly be scared of Trump.
After playing a montage of clips from right-of-center news organizations talking about Harris’s comments, moderator Whoopi Goldberg lashed out by suggesting that they were somehow snowflakes:
You know, you folks are the snowflakeiest people I've ever seen. You don't know what she's scared of. You don’t know? You haven't been listening to what this man has said he's going to do on day one? How he's treated women? You don't think we're uncomfortable when somebody, says, yeah, I'm the guy that got rid of Roe v. Wade? What do you mean, what are you scared of?
The montage included a soundbite of Fox & Friends co-host Lawrence Jones asking, “What are they scared of? It's, like, do MAGA supporters have some type of disease or something?” “Yeah,” bitter co-host Joy Behar responded to him.
Behar tried to explain away what Harris really meant when she said she was “scared” of Trump. “And Kamala basically, she's not personally scared. She's scared for the country because the country will have a problem if he is in office, and he also will go after his enemies. Hello?” she warned while gesturing to the cast as though they’d be worth that kind of effort.
Staunchly racist and anti-Semitic co-host Sunny Hostin took a different approach. She insisted Harris was right to be in a panic over Trump and everyone should be too. “She's the second most powerful person in the world and she's telling you to be very, very afraid,” she declared.
Hostin also dipped into hysterics and warned that Trump was going to topple America and be its destroyer. “We've seen it happen in history. There have been great nations that no longer exist because of someone like a Donald Trump,” she proclaimed.
Touting their interview with “the second most powerful person in the world – who happens to be a woman,” Hostin insisted it should put to rest any criticism of Harris. “A this point I hope I never hear again she is not qualified to be the president,” she pouted, arguing Harris was ready for when President Biden kicked the can.
“Because she had the temperament, she had the knowledge, she had the demeanor, she had it all! And I think she proved to the world, in my opinion, she is ready to be that heartbeat away from Joe Biden,” she argued.
Hypocrisy was on full display with co-host Sara Haines, who praised Harris’s warnings and fear of Trump:
I think that was also her strongest point and that's why it's funny that everyone in the conservative media ran with it, because you want straight-talking politicians. It's what resonates with me the most and in that moment you could tell she heard the question and was like, uh. Because either he is an existential threat to democracy which is scary or he’s not.
But during their interview, Haines pressed Harris for the Biden campaign to ditch the doom and gloom predictions by citing their lack of traction with voters. “Attacks on Trump are not moving the needle. In fact, 91 indictments are not moving the needle. Voters want to hear about issues affecting their lives like the economy and the border,” she said at the time.
As they were nearing the end of the segment, Goldberg took another crack at trying to spin Harris’s fear as a strength. “There's nothing wrong with being afraid. It's what makes you get up and make a change. So, don't think that because somebody says they're afraid, it's a bad thing. There's nothing shameful about being afraid,” she asserted. “I think it is kind of brave to say you're afraid.”
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
ABC’s The View
January 18, 2024
11:03:22 a.m. Eastern(…)
LAWRENCE JONES (Fox & Friends): The question is what are they scared of? It's, like, do MAGA supporters have some type of disease or something?
[Cuts back to live]
JOY BEHAR (answering Jones): Yeah.
[Laughter]
WHOOPI GOLDBERG: You know, you folks are the snowflakeiest people I've ever seen. You don't know what she's scared of. You don’t know? You haven't been listening to what this man has said he's going to do on day one? How he's treated women? You don't think we're uncomfortable when somebody, says, yeah, I'm the guy that got rid of Roe v. Wade? What do you mean, what are you scared of?
You’re – I’ll just pose – you know it’s too – I can't mess up now.
[Laughter]
BEHAR: What you just said, the guy himself has said I'm going to be a dictator on day one, I’m going to roll back Roe v. Wade – one of the few times he actually told the truth – and that is what you should be scared of. And Kamala basically, she's not personally scared. She's scared for the country because the country will have a problem if he is in office and he also will go after his enemies. Hello? [Gestures to The View cast]
SARA HAINES: I think Alyssa is at risk the most.
SUNNY HOSTIN: I think that’s what I took away from it. You know. I mean, yeah. She's the second most powerful person in the world and she's telling you to be very, very afraid. She's explaining to you that –Our democracy really is an experiment. We're a very young country and that experiment can fail in the hands of a dictator. We've seen it happen in history. There have been great nations that no longer exist because of someone like a Donald Trump
And so, I want the second most powerful person in the world – who happens to be a woman – tell me, be very, very afraid. And what I liked about the interview yesterday is that she – at this point I hope I never hear again she is not qualified to be the president.
BEHAR: That's right.
HOSTIN: Because she had the temperament, she had the knowledge, she had the demeanor, she had it all! And I think she proved to the world, in my opinion, she is ready to be that heartbeat away from Joe Biden.
(…)
11:06:54 a.m. Eastern
HAINES: I think that was also her strongest point and that's why it's funny that everyone in the conservative media ran with it, because you want straight talking politicians. It's what resonates with me the most and in that moment you could tell she heard the question and was like, uh. Because either he is an existential threat to democracy which is scary or he’s not.
BEHAR: Which he is.
HAINES: But you can't have it both ways. When people were calling her out for being scared and you deciphered personally scared versus as an administration. If it's as scary as you're telling everybody it is, then you should also be saying it's scary but what I'm going to do is we're going to run harder, we’re going to go faster. And that's kind of what she did with that moment.
On the heels of all the town halls and debates, I'm so tired of the canned alliteration like “from Bangkok to Baltimore, we got” – And so that was a moment where I felt she was so present that it was, like, real.
(…)
11:09:23 a.m. Eastern
GOLDBERG: The thing I want to say about this: There's nothing wrong with being afraid. It's what makes you get up and make a change. So, don't think that because somebody says they're afraid, it's a bad thing.
[Applause ]
There's nothing shameful about being afraid.
HOSTIN: It’s brave to say that you’re afraid.
GOLDBERG: I think it is kind of brave to say you're afraid.
