The liberal ladies of ABC’s The View were eating each other alive during Wednesday’s episode. Viewers probably had to turn down the volume on their TVs as they yelled at each other and argued over whether or not Democrats were infighting about how they should have shut down the government. One yelled about how there was no infighting at all, while one acknowledge that they themselves were doing it. The shrieking went on for nearly five minutes before they had to go to a commercial.
Before the main bought kicked off a few minutes later, right-leaning co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin quipped about how former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) “backed that bus over” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) for his vote to keep the government open. Farah Griffin also said she was “kind of stunned by how much Dems are infighting over this.”
The View’s infighting started with co-host Joy Behar and Sunny Hostin clashing and yelling over whether or not Democrats were even infighting themselves (Click “expand”):
BEHAR: Why don't the Democrats go out there and march and stop fighting with each other! I'm sick of it!
HOSTIN: I don't know, Joy, that they're fighting with each other.
BEHAR: They are! They are!
HOSTIN: They are not fighting a unified fight. That is the problem.
BEHAR: No! No! No! The fact that Nancy is now out there criticizing Schumer! Stop it already!
HOSTIN: You know why she’s criticizing him? Because he should have been fighting for that veteran! He should have been fighting for the people of America that are feeling the way that they are feeling!
Behar grew tired of listening to Hostin and exclaiming, “All right. Let’s not beat the dead body! The body is dead!”
But beat the dead body Hostin did as she proceeded to spew evidence-free claims about Republicans hating veterans: “They're taking money away from vets! They're taking -- they're going to take money from Social Security, take money, take money, take money! So, let them hold the water for them. Let them hold the bag!”
“Okay. So, it would have been worse if he didn't concede … [Schumer] did not have the votes, he could not get the votes,” pretend independent Sara Haines jumped into the fray.
Despite Haines trying to explain how Schumer was possibly providing cover for the Democrats to oppose funding the government, Hostin didn’t want to listen to any form rationality. As a result, Hostin and Haines started yelling at each other, with Haines yelling about how Democrats were in the minority and couldn’t afford to do the wild things Hostin wanted them to (Click “expand”):
HOSTIN: He gave coverage to the GOP to do whatever the heck they want to do!
HAINES: They didn’t! Nobody is fooling themselves! It's a minority! They don't have the math! It's just basic math! There are facts there! It's not an opinion! They cannot avoid this! And if they bent the knee and pushed back just to show the public they were fighting, we would have ended up worse off. They would have gutted it even more.
HOSTIN: They're going to do it anyway!
Haines seeming to have said her peace and bowed out. But from there, a three-way yelling match between Behar, Farah Griffin, and Hostin ensued (Click “expand”):
FARAH GRIFFIN: And by the way, in a shutdown, veterans would be harmed. They wouldn’t get their VA benefits!
HOSTIN: They're already being harmed! No one is fighting for the American people and it's feckless and it's weak.
FARAH GRIFFIN: Shutting down the government is not fighting for the American people.
BEHAR: Give it a minute! Give it a minute!
FARAH GRIFFIN: It costing the economy billions of dollars.
BEHAR: This guy has done so much in one month! Give it a minute!
HOSTIN: Give him more time to shut stuff down?!
BEHAR: No, I think that the Democrats are going to pull themselves together now. I do believe it.
FARAH GRIFFIN: As we speak, the courts actually –
HOSTIN: I don’t agree.
Without evidence, Behar claims “every day” President Trump commits “an atrocity.” She gave insight into her fractious mental state by admitting that, “Every day I wake up, ‘what did he do today?!’”
Moderator Whoopi Goldberg finally stepped in to squash the squabbling and warning them all to “be careful, because this is what they want. They want this fighting. They want this infighting.”
She then called on them and their viewers to give the Democrats reinforcements:
What's happening now, Democrats don't have what he need to get what they want done, so, again, people have to get out and you have to march. You have to start making noise. This is now coming back to us. The only way people a going to hear how angry you are is if you get out there.
“It is now on us. We have to do it. You want to save your Social Security? You got to get up and you got to start screaming!” the ABC News moderator demanded.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
ABC’s The View
March 19, 2025
11:03:13 a.m. Eastern(…)
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: Well, she backed that bus over him. I’m kind of stunned by how much Dems are infighting over this. I mean, it was striking to me when Hakeem Jeffries basically declined to say that Chuck Schumer should be the leader, and now Nancy Pelosi who worked hand in glove with Schumer when she was speaker now openly criticizing him.
(…)
11:06:25 a.m. Eastern
JOY BEHAR: And I can almost cry today for these people, these vets who are losing everything. Why don't the Democrats go out there and march and stop fighting with each other! I'm sick of it!
HOSTIN: I don't know, Joy, that they're fighting with each other.
BEHAR: They are! They are!
HOSTIN: They are not fighting a unified fight. That is the problem.
BEHAR: No! No! No! The fact that Nancy is now out there criticizing Schumer! Stop it already!
HOSTIN: You know why she’s criticizing him? Because he should have been fighting for that veteran! He should have been fighting for the people of America that are feeling the way that they are feeling! The Americans that I've spoken to, people that approach me almost every single day, say they don't feel like the party is fighting for them! This is not about –
BEHAR: Well, that's what I'm saying. Go out and fight for them.
HOSTIN: Well, he had the opportunity to fight for them. Chuck Schumer caved to the GOP and got nothing! This was actually --
BEHAR: All right. Let’s not beat the dead body! The body is dead!
HOSTIN: But Joy, the choice was not between a no vote on the partisan GOP spending bill and a possible shutdown! It was a choice between a no vote and forcing Republicans to explain why they walked way from that possibility of a bipartisan agreement! And the core disagreement was around a willingness to fight even if that meant convincing the public the harm from a shutdown was the fault of Trump and the Republicans!
Because they are going to do exactly what they are doing! They're taking money away from vets! They're taking -- they're going to take money from Social Security, take money, take money, take money! So, let them hold the water for them. Let them hold the bag!
Democrats in the House were prepared for that fight! Chuck Schumer caved –
FARAH GRIFFIN: Well, they didn't have the votes in the House.
HAINES: Okay. So, it would have been worse if he didn't concede. It would have been worse and that's what was surprising about Pelosi saying that. Because she knows from her experience as speaker of the House that the negotiator told Chuck Schumer he did not have the votes, he could not get the votes. He shut it down.
And one thing that changed my mind is: yesterday I called him on the carpet and said how are you leadership when you only get nine Democrats to follow you. But then someone shared something that made me change a little of my perspective. They had exactly the number they needed to not shut down. So, he gave cover to a ton of Democrats that probably, in commonsense terms, knew their voters would backlash if they shut the government down. And honestly --
HOSTIN: He gave coverage to the GOP to do whatever the heck they want to do!
HAINES: They didn’t! Nobody is fooling themselves! It's a minority! They don't have the math! It's just basic math! There are facts there! It's not an opinion! They cannot avoid this! And if they bent the knee and pushed back just to show the public they were fighting, we would have ended up worse off. They would have gutted it even more.
HOSTIN: They're going to do it anyway!
HAINES: Legally so, though.
BEHAR: They can't.
HAINES: So, right now we’re –
HOSTIN: Yes, they can!
HAINES: We have more than two dozen cases because of DOGE and Elon Musk. I believe in the courts system, I believe in the judges, I believe the one stopgap will be that moment. But when they cave and say, “well, they’re not listening to the rules anyway,” well you're giving them a shutdown which legally allows them to do exactly what they’re doing right now.
FARAH GRIFFIN: And by the way, in a shutdown, veterans would be harmed. They wouldn’t get their VA benefits!
HOSTIN: They're already being harmed! No one is fighting for the American people and it's feckless and it's weak.
FARAH GRIFFIN: Shutting down the government is not fighting for the American people.
BEHAR: Give it a minute! Give it a minute!
FARAH GRIFFIN: It costing the economy billions of dollars.
BEHAR: This guy has done so much in one month! Give it a minute!
HOSTIN: Give him more time to shut stuff down?!
BEHAR: No, I think that the Democrats are going to pull themselves together now. I do believe it.
FARAH GRIFFIN: As we speak, the courts actually –
HOSTIN: I don’t agree.
BEHAR: Every day there is an atrocity going on! Every day I wake up, “what did he do today?!”
FARAH GRIFFIN: The courts just ruled that more than 20,000 federal workers have to be reinstated because what DOGE did was not lawful.
GOLDBERG: So, you know, listen, be careful, because this is what they want.
BEHAR: Fighting. Infighting.
GOLDBERG: They want this fighting. They want this infighting.
What's happening now, Democrats don't have what he need to get what they want done, so, again, people have to get out and you have to march. You have to start making noise.
BEHAR: That's right.
GOLDBERG: This is now coming back to us. The only way people a going to hear how angry you are is if you get out there.
We've done it when people were being sent over to Vietnam disproportionately, we got out there and we made noise and we made a difference. We made a difference. We made a difference when it came to women' rights. We made a difference when it came to black people's rights. If we don't get up and get out there and start making the noise we have to make, it's not going to change!
BEHAR: Stand up for the veterans.
GOLDBERG: So, I appreciate –
[Applause]
You know, you know, I love Chuck Schumer, I love all these people who dedicate themselves, but this is -- It is now on us. We have to do it. You want to save your Social Security? You got to get up and you got to start screaming!
BEHAR: Before those checks stop coming!
GOLDBERG: Because the only way – Because the only way they're going to understand that you're not going to put up with it is if you don't put up with it! That's the way it's going to work!
