Leave it to ABC’s The View to take up the position that murderers, pedophiles, and other sex offenders deserve to vote and commit voter fraud. That was the hill they wanted to die on Wednesday after body-camera video surfaced showing Florida law enforcement officers arresting individuals accused of illegally voting. The cast didn’t seem to know what the law was with one claiming they were illegally arrested and another claiming the Republicans were cheating to win.
It was Whoopi Goldberg who seemed unable to understand the law as she decried “Florida Governor Ron DeSantis imposing his crackdown on so-called ‘voter fraud’ when he sent cops out to arrest people…” She also seemed to suggest DeSantis had a racist motivation, noting the “crackdown wound up with all of 20 arrests in total, 13 of whom were black.”
“Clearly, it's not written anywhere or they would not have allowed him to do this,” Goldberg proclaimed, seemingly saying that the law didn’t really bar murderers and pedophiles from voting. She then started screaming at DeSantis through the camera (using air quotes to describe the voter fraud they allegedly committed):
And where is Ron DeSantis?! what are you doing, man?! Why are you allowing this?! This is your problem! You set these people up to be part of this “voter fraud” thing that you keep looking for. And you set these people up. What are you doing?!
Hinting at replacement theory (something The View previously claimed doesn’t exist and said it’s racist to suggest it does), co-host Joy Behar bloviated about how Republicans “can't win and they can't win because demographics are changing and the future is not Republican Party, so they have to cheat.”
In reality, the numbers show that Democrats are the ones in danger in Florida as Hispanics flock to the Republican candidates.
Behar then began to frantically read from some conspiracy theory she found somewhere trying to explain the GOP plot (click “expand”):
So, first, they say there is voter fraud all over the place, which we know that's not true.
(…)
And then, you set up a situation where you tell people lies, like these people were told that they could vote when they actually could not. So, they get the wrong information.
(…)
So, the second step is you set up where people are voting fraudulently unknowingly, which is what we just watched.
(…)
And then you deny the validity of any election which you did not win.
While Behar was trying to deliver this bizarre and incoherent theory, Goldberg was busy flaunting her ignorance of the law. “But they could vote, right?” she asked about the felons. She had to be told that the law bars murderers and pedophiles from casting a ballot. But still, she insisted the whole thing was “a set-up.”
Sara Haines was up next and strung together an asinine argument to suggest the law and its enforcement proved the GOP are “soft on crime” and accuses them, without evidence, of committing “entrapment.” “There are real criminals. There are real things happening in this country … That's a waste of law enforcement,” she whined.
Building off of Haines, racist co-host Sunny Hostin asserted the law was designed to make it seem like crime was on the rise. “Isn’t that what they want though? Don't they want folks to be afraid? They want – This is playing into that white fear. Right? ‘There's rising crime everywhere.’ And that's the fear,” she sneered in a mocking tone.
Hostin went on to declare the law was “racially targeted” (an odd thing to argue since the law does not mention race, just that murderers and sex offenders can’t vote). Assuming only white people are Republican, she angrily demanded elderly folks from a Florida retirement community be arrested in front of cameras:
The Villages. Overwhelmingly they found the amount of voter fraud that, like, 0.006 were Republicans, elderly people from there. Why were they not paraded in front of cameras? Why were they not arrested in front of cameras?
Hostin is a former federal prosecutor but doesn’t understand that video of the arrests was from police body cameras. “Well, I don’t think they were paraded. It was actually body-cam footage,” explained “conservative” co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin.
For Farah Griffin’s part, she had the job of trying to explain to the rest of the cast that they were taking “bait” supposedly placed by DeSantis. “This is what he does. He knows how to drive news attention. He wants us all to say, ‘of course, murderers should be able to vote,’” she lamented.
The segment concluded with Goldberg shouting about about some undefined thing she called "double trauma" and complaining about how people were getting arrested for allegedly committing a crime instead of just having a little chat about it. "Ron DeSantis, shame on you! Shame, shame, shame on you!" she shrieked.
Their defense of felons allegedly committing voter fraud was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from CarFax and Crest. Their contact information is linked.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
ABC’s The View
October 19, 2022
11:02:43 a.m. EasternWHOOPI GOLDBERG: So, America is a little over two weeks away from a high-stakes midterm election, and newly released police body-cam footage shows the confusion surrounding Florida Governor Ron DeSantis imposing his crackdown on so-called “voter fraud” when he sent cops out to arrest people like Tony Patterson who were previously told they were cleared to vote.
(…)
11:03:52 a.m. Eastern
GOLDBERG: So, Patterson pleaded not guilty, and the Governor's crackdown wound up with all of 20 arrests in total, 13 of whom were black.
So, what is going on? They said that if you are a felon, you would be able to vote. I thought when you go to the place to register to say, here I am, they look and they say, okay. No, you can't or yes, you can. So where is the information that says unless you are a pedophile or a murderer, you are not allowed to vote? Clearly, it's not written anywhere or they would not have allowed him to do this.
And where is Ron DeSantis?! what are you doing, man?! Why are you allowing this?! This is your problem! You set these people up to be part of this “voter fraud” thing that you keep looking for. And you set these people up. What are you doing?!
And why -- why is this, you know, it didn't used to be you had to be concerned about voting. It was very clear. You had a right to do xyz. When they say to you and the governor says, this is how we're doing it, and people say, okay. This is how we're doing it. Why isn't he standing up now?
JOY BEHAR: This is what they're up to now, the Republican Party. Because they know they can't win and they can't win because demographics are changing and the future is not Republican Party, so they have to cheat.
So, first, they say there is voter fraud all over the place, which we know that's not true.
SUNNY HOSTIN: It’s less than one percent.
BEHAR: Less than one percent –
HOSTIN: It’s 0.06.
BEHAR: -- of actual voter fraud. But they don't care about that.
And then, you set up a situation where you tell people lies, like these people were told that they could vote when they actually could not. So, they get the wrong information.
GOLDBERG: But they could vote, right?
HOSTIN: However –
BEHAR: But if they can –
HOSTIN: -- in 2018, the resolution passed overwhelmingly in Florida that convicted felons that had served their time could vote. One exclusion was --
GOLDBERG: Yes. Yes.
BEHAR: But not for murderers and child molesters.
HOSTIN: Right. Child molesters and murderers. However, that was not put in place and given to the election roll people. So, they were on the rolls.
BEHAR: Let me finish.
So, the second step is you set up where people are voting fraudulently unknowingly, which is what we just watched.
GOLDBERG: Yeah. It's a set-up.
BEHAR: And then you deny the validity of any election which you did not win.
(…)
11:06:48 a.m. Eastern
SARA HAINES: I thought what was interesting also is beyond the absurdity of the fact some of these people were told in these videos that were released, like, at the DMV, “I don't think I'm able to vote” and the government employee said, “no, you've already served your time. Are you on probation? No, I’m not on probation. Then you're fine, and go ahead and vote,” and now you're being arrested.
Beyond that, I look at the – Oftentimes it's the right that talks so much about the left being soft on crime. Here he created a 15 -- or I think it's -- the Office of Election Crimes and Security this year, they were given a staff of 15 to go and do this sort of work. To me, this is soft on crime. There are real criminals. There are real things happening in this country and you are now kind of -- what is it? Entrapment almost with telling people they can and arresting them for not. That's a waste of law enforcement.
[Crosstalk]
HOSTIN: Isn’t that what they want though? Don't they want folks to be afraid? They want – This is playing into that white fear. Right? “There's rising crime everywhere.” [In a mocking tone] And that's the fear.
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: The political analysis of this. Ron DeSantis is trying to bait the media, liberal media I would say into coming out to defending violent offenders and murderers who tried to illegally vote. This is a set-up. This is what he does. He knows how to drive news attention. He wants us all to say, “of course, murderers should be able to vote!”
There's a very real discussion to be had. I believe in restoring voting rights for felons. I don’t for violent offenders. That’s a real policy discussion.
But let’s be honest, if he cared about addressing voter fraud, there's a certain Florida resident who's guilty of trying to defraud 80 million people of their votes, Donald Trump. We're not doing anything about.
HOSTIN: It I agree with you with that. I also agree that this was sort of racially targeted because we know at that senior citizen – um
HAINES: The Villages.
HOSTIN: That place. The Villages. Overwhelmingly they found the amount of voter fraud that, like, 0.006 were Republicans, elderly people from there. Why were they not paraded in front of cameras? Why were they not arrested in front of cameras?
FARAH GRIFFIN: Well, I don’t think they were paraded. It was actually body-cam footage.
HOSTIN: But why were they not paraded by what's his name? DeCentis? DeSantis to say --
BEHAR: You know his name.
HOSTIN: I just came down on voter suppression.
GOLDBERG: Well, you know, this is -- this is --
HOSTIN: or voter fraud.
GOLDBERG: -- you are -- This is double trauma. Somebody serves their time. They get out, okay? And you come along and you say, “oh, you voted fraudulently, so I'm arresting you;” not, like, “let's get -- let's see what this is about. I'm taking you in.” Ron DeSantis, shame on you! Shame, shame, shame on you!
