Almost two years after a far-left extremist attempted to assassinate conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, ABC’s The View invited author John Grisham on the show to fantasize about a follow-up to The Pelican Brief where even more justices would be assassinated. Of course, the liberal ladies rushed to his defense. He also pushed long-debunked conspiracy theories about the 2000 election being decided by the court.
Being that their guest had written about the Supreme Court in the past, co-host Joy Behar teed him up to give his two cents about the current media smear campaigns. “I mean, let's take the Supreme Court right now. A lot of people have issues with them. There are some scandals plaguing the Supreme Court. Do you have any thoughts on that and maybe write a book or make a movie out of that?” she wondered.
“I wrote a great book called The Pelican Brief… In which two Supreme Court justices were assassinated,” he boasted (it was also turned into a movie in 1993). “You sure did!” staunchly racist and anti-Semitic co-host Sunny Hostin (the descendant of slave owners) commended him.
Seemingly inspired by Behar’s question about the current Supreme Court, Grisham then floated the idea of writing another book about justices getting assassinated, which immediately prompted the cast to jump to his defense:
GRISHAM: And I thought about doing it again!
BEHAR: No. No. No. No.
[Crosstalk as they try to explain what he meant]
WHOOPI GOLDBERG: Writing part two! He's talking about writing part two!
GRISHAM: It's all fiction.
HOSTIN: It's all fiction!
GRISHAM: It’s all fiction.
GOLDBERG: It’s all fiction!
GRISHAM: Don't get upset.
BEHAR: It's just fiction. It's made-up stories.
“The court has never looked this bad in my lifetime,” he proclaimed. “Some of the rulings, the ethical challenges…”
Grisham dove into election denialism when he suggested the court started going “downhill in 2000 when five Republicans on the court chose to elect a president.” His debunked conspiracy theory got agreement from Behar as he doubled down on the false claim:
BEHAR: Oh, yes. Al Gore.
GRISHAM: That was the most political – Bush v. Gore and that's when it all started really going downhill.
BEHAR: I agree with that.
GRISHAM: The 5-4 decision and the court – it gets worse every term.
It was a false claim because even with the court’s decision – for a case brought to them – George W. Bush had the votes to carry Florida. It was a fact even supported by a recount funded by the left-leaning The Miami Herald and USA Today.
“So, I have no solution because you can't get rid of them,” Grisham added. “The solution is make them all retire at the age of 75. Every federal judge should have to retire at the age of 75.”
And by total coincidence (not really), 75 was how old Justice Clarence Thomas was and how old Justice Samuel Alito would be next year.
It’s worth noting that The View cast were among those in the liberal media who encouraged mobs of liberal radicals to assail the conservative justices at their homes and denounced calls for increased security after the assassination attempt. And a little over a year ago, far-left liberal extremist Jane Fonda was on the show and proposed “murder” as the final solution to the Pro-Life problem.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
ABC’s The View
May 29, 2024
11:50:36 a.m. Eastern(…)
JOY BEHAR: You're art imitating life, really, I think is what you're doing. But life right now in a courtroom is getting a little scary. I mean, let's take the Supreme Court right now. A lot of people have issues with them. There are some scandals plaguing the Supreme Court. Do you have any thoughts on that and maybe write a book or make a movie out of that?
JOHN GRISHAM: I wrote a great book called The Pelican Brief.
SARA HAINES: Yes!
SUNNY HOSTIN: You sure did!
[Applause]
BEHAR: Yep.
GRISHAM: In which two Supreme Court justices were assassinated.
BEHAR: I know.
HOSTIN: Yes.
GRISHAM: And I thought about doing it again!
BEHAR: No. No. No. No.
[Crosstalk as they try to explain what he meant.]
WHOOPI GOLDBERG: Writing part two! He's talking about writing part two!
GRISHAM: It's all fiction.
HOSTIN: It's all fiction!
GRISHAM: It’s all fiction.
GOLDBERG: It’s all fiction!
GRISHAM: Don't get upset.
BEHAR: It's just fiction. It's made up stories.
GRISHAM: The court has never looked this bad--
BEHAR: No.
GRISHAM: -- in my lifetime. Some of the rulings, the ethical challenges, the -- It went downhill in 2000 when five Republicans on the court chose to elect a president.
BEHAR: Oh, yes. Al Gore.
GRISHAM: That was the most political – Bush v. Gore and that's when it all started really going downhill.
BEHAR: I agree with that.
GRISHAM: The 5-4 decision and the court – it gets worse every term.
HOSTIN: Wow.
GRISHAM: So, I have no solution because you can't get rid of them. The solution is make them all retire at the age of 75. Every federal judge should have to retire at the age of 75.
BEHAR: How about term limits like everybody else? The president gets term limits. Why do they have these lifetime jobs?
[Crosstalk]
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: I did want to ask about the book.
(…)