Tensions between the hosts of The View have been a little more heated than usual lately. On Monday’s (October 14) episode of the live talk show, the first “hot topic” of the day, as usual, was the current situation leading up to the 2024 presidential race. Coverage included the fact that the polls were close between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, and that Harris’ appearance On The View, she sparked controversy after she did not immediately provide a stark contrast between herself and current President Joe Biden, and that the narrative in the media was unbalanced when it came to covering the personal and political differences between the candidates.
The conversation became particularly tense between Sunny Hostin and Alyssa Farah Griffin when the latter explained what she believes Harris needs to do to improve her campaign, while Hostin insists it has been a “flawless” campaign so far.
“The Harris campaign needs to step up the fear factor… It doesn’t seem to me like they have a killer instinct…,” Griffin began. I’m scared to death. This is a really close race. “I think it’s important that we acknowledge that just a few weeks ago.” She then suggested that the campaign needed to send surrogates to speak to specific voters in specific demographic groups.
Hostin disagreed, praising Harris’ campaign as successful in getting “people to believe in her” and backing that up with vocal donations. However, Huston believes that Harris was instead a victim of unfair coverage tactics, explaining: “I think the press is to blame for a lot of this… [Whoopi Goldberg] Do you always say you don’t believe in polls? I’m with you now because I read the press. First, it was “Kamala doesn’t do enough journalism.” Then you go on this huge press tour. She was here with us. I thought it was great. The fans were going wild. It was electric. CNN [headline]“Democrats are worried.” Axios, “Blue Wall Blues,” Vox, “Democrats Scared to Death.” No, Democrats are not scared to death. Democrats are pumped.
“What I would like the press to talk about a little bit more is that Trump is hiding. He didn’t do the 60 Minutes interview. He doesn’t want to have another debate. He’s in mental decline. Obama’s speech was captivating in Pittsburgh, but instead of talking about that, we’re talking about what he said.” Before his speech to black men, I think the media should do a much better job than they are doing.”
Ana Navarro agreed with Hosten about the quality of the campaign, while Sarah Haines disagreed with Hosten’s assessment, citing frustration with Harris’ answer to Hosten’s question about how to distinguish herself from Biden. Although Harris eventually said she would appoint a Republican to her cabinet and that they had different lived experiences, she initially said there was “no one thing” that set them apart, and Harris’ critics have been amplifying that quote nonstop ever since.
Regarding this, Griffin said: “I think this idea of change is really important because whether you like Joe Biden or not, the public was turning against his policies.”
Goldberg strongly disagreed with this point, saying: “They weren’t turning against his policies. They were spreading this fake news about him being old.”
“The truth is the majority of voters don’t want Joe Biden back,” Griffin insisted with some enthusiasm. “So it needs to point out how different it is.”
“No, those are statistics. These are facts,” Houston responded. “The Biden administration has been one of the most successful in decades.”
“Success is a relative term,” Griffin said, before calling for Goldberg to take a break.
When they returned from the commercial break, things seemed to have calmed down a bit, but Hostin stood her ground, saying: “We’re not going to see Kamala Harris throw Joe Biden under the bus because they’ve worked cohesively. She’s very loyal. And in my view, they’ve had one of the best and most successful administrations.” “For decades, the facts prove that.”
“We all want Donald Trump to lose, and I think that means, over the next few weeks, talking about things that are realities that we need to deal with,” Griffin insisted. ABC poll says 74% of Americans want Kamala Harris to go in a new direction. 65% believe it will be so, but they believe it will be a continuation of Biden’s policies.”
After some input from the other groups, things started to heat up between Hostin and Griffin again when Griffin tried to have the final say on the matter by saying: “She has to do the high-level work of talking about what she’s going to do to do that that’s not being done right now. Offer her proactive vision, Which is what she’s doing today, she’s been doing it for weeks, but make it resonate, let people know what she stands for and it’s different from Biden while also really attacking him she can’t just rely on the alternatives to be there…”
That’s when Hostin jumped in with her request: “Why don’t we start talking about Donald Trump?”
“We do it every day on this show!” Griffin said with a laugh.
“We don’t have his medical records,” Houston added during some crosstalk. “We have her, and she is the epitome of good health.”
The View, weekdays, 11 a.m. ET, ABC
