In an election year that saw an unprecedented and horrific pair of assassination attempts on a major party candidate for president, it’s important to note who in the liberal media were stoking the flames of hate with incendiary rhetoric. ABC’s The View has been no stranger to such rhetoric, as NewsBusters noted in our 2023 roundup, which included a call for murdering pro-lifers.
In 2024, we got a defense of killing President-elect Trump in effigy (pre-assassination attempts), refusals to rein in incendiary rhetoric after the assassination attempts, and open contempt for those who dare to humanize Trump.
Presented here, in chronological order, are eight times The View toyed with incendiary rhetoric:
The View Defends Decapitating Trump, Decries Hog-Tied Biden Decal
The liberal ladies of The View were left clutching their pearls in April after Trump shared a social media post featuring a tailgate decal of President Biden hogtied in the back. “What's the difference between what Kathy Griffin did and what he did? Moderator Whoop Goldberg demanded to know, referencing Griffin’s infamous “joke” of hold Trump’s bloody severed head.
Joy Behar then chimed in to defend Griffin: “It's worse for him really. She's a comedian.”
They never care to explain what the “punchline” is to that particular “joke.”
Author John Grisham Fantasizes About Killing SCOTUS Justices 'Again'
Almost two years after a far-left extremist attempted to assassinate conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, 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.
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 (Click “expand”):
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 View Refuses to Retract Incendiary Rhetoric After Attempt on Trump, Blames Guns
Even after Trump survived getting shot in the head in the first attempt on his life, The View openly refused to rein in their use of the kind of rhetoric that could lead to more attempts.
Instead of apologizing and walking back the rhetoric, Alyssa Farah Griffin paid lip service to how made the situation was:
I think it's a moment for reflection on the tone and tenor of our politics, and one thing that is fundamentally American is the right to criticize policies. It is also the right to criticize the character of our politicians, but the way in which we do it matters. And we live in an era where escalatory rhetoric and saying the most damning and inciting thing is oftentimes what’s rewarded. And I think it’s incumbent on all of us to just check how we engage.
The View Defends Continued Use of Inciting Rhetoric Against Trump
Literally one day later, The View was defending their use of stochastic terrorism against Trump. They insisted that their claims of Trump ending the country if elected were the “truth” and were said with good “intention,” thus were above reproach and didn’t need to be curtailed.
Sunny Hostin even argued that not saying such terrible and false things would be “complicity” with getting him elected:
And, so, I just think that calling out the truth is not turning up the heat, right, and I think it's really important. Um, tone matters, words matter, but facts matter too. And, so, if you see behavior, or you see policy, or you see rhetoric that is inappropriate and improper, I don't think we should be silent about that because silence can be complicity.
Whoopi Attacks Trump’s Grandkids: ‘They’re Trying to Humanize Him!’
Children weren’t even safe from The View’s hatred in 2024. Their crime? Being Trump’s grandkids and sharing touching stories about their grandfather and crawling all over him.
During their coverage of the Republican National Convention, Goldberg lashed out at Trump’s granddaughter Kai Trump and denounced how she was trying to “humanize him”:
Now, for me, I have a lot of faith in the American people, and I don't know very many men who want to be talked to the way that this man has been talking to men in his audience. I don't know any women – and I know his grandchild was up on the thing and they're trying to humanize him and change your idea about who this guy is. Don't fall for that!
Ana Navarro Scoffs at Those Decrying Political Violence Against Trump
As the election pressed on, even a second assassination attempt on Trump wouldn’t dissuade The View from engaging in incendiary rhetoric in a bid to win. In fact, they went from paying lips service to how violence was never the answer to scoffing at the idea that violence wasn’t a part of the American political process.
Navarro expressed disgust at “hearing” and “reading” about “elected officials on both sides of the aisle tweet out, ‘In America, there is no room, there is no space for political violence.’” She argued that it’s happened so much already that we should be used to it by now:
But, what America do these folks live in that they think there's no space for political violence when Gabby Giffords, the congresswoman from Arizona got shot in the head at an event in her district. When the congressional baseball team got shot at. When Nancy Pelosi's husband got his skull bashed in with a hammer from a political enemy. When we had January 6th, when people raided and stormed the Capitol. When, you know, we have had now two different attempts Donald trump.
So, this is the America that we live in, and political violence is very much a part of it. Let me tell you. Bomb threats in Springfield. I consider that political violence
The View LOSES IT After Vance Links Left's Rhetoric to Attempts on Trump's Life
Despite trafficking in such incendiary rhetoric and actively arguing for it’s continued use against Trump, The View had a collective meltdown in September when Vice President-elect J.D. Vance called out the radical left’s rhetoric for the attempts on Trump’s life.
Goldberg became unglued and started shouting about how there was supposedly no political violence coming from the left, and that Trump and Vance were bringing the assassination attempts on themselves:
And also, let's stop this thing. You know, let's stop this both sides stuff because it's not correct! It is not both sides! It is one clear side! And you can point to many, many reports, you can point to all kinds of stuff that's been reported! You guys have to -- you have to pull it back! This is not us or them! This is you got to stop doing what you're doing, J.D.! And what you're doing Mr. T.! Because – You are – you are – you are not helping the situation!
Sunny Hostin Makes Excuses for Assassinating Healthcare Executives
As the year was wrapping up, the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson brought out the worst in Hostin.
In addition to showing off some of the most ghoulish takes celebrating the murder, Hostin made excuses, noting that people don’t trust the healthcare system and suggesting they loved violence as a solution:
…only about 31 percent of Americans trust our healthcare system. We have a terrible healthcare system…So, there are a lot of problems with it.
But the notion that we aren’t a violent country, this country was built on violence. We're a very violent country. And it's just undeniable that that's the case. So, I'm not unfortunately, surprised that people are celebrating the use of violence. I'm not surprised that this young man thought that change could be accomplished through violence. One in four Americans say violence against government sometimes is justified, and today in 2024 one in ten Americans say violence is justified right now against corporations and the government.
