‘The View’ issues on-air apology for comments about Turning Point USA

The co-hosts of ABC’s “The View” on Wednesday issued an apology for statements made Monday about protesters outside an event hosted by the conservative activist group Turning Post USA.

“We want to make clear that these demonstrators were outside the event and that they were not invited or endorsed by Turning Point USA,” host Sara Haines said during Wednesday’s show.

The apology came after the group threatened to sue the ABC daytime show.

Earlier in the week, during a discussion about Turning Point USA’s summit in Florida, host Joy Behar said “Neo-Nazis were out there in the front of the conference with antisemitic slurs and … the Nazi swastika and a picture of a so-called Jewish person with exaggerated features, just like Goebbels did during the Third Reich. It’s the same thing, right out of the same playbook.”

Turning Point USA, a grassroots conservative movement founded by talk show host Charlie Kirk, has argued the protestors were not affiliated with the group and they could not be removed because the demonstrations were taking place on public property.

Whoopi Goldberg, another host of the ABC daytime talk show, said of Turning Point USA, “you let them in and you knew what they were, so you are complicit.”

After the panel’s initial comments earlier in the week, Turning Point USA issued a cease-and-desist letter to ABC, Fox News reported, asking for a retraction.

“The false statements of fact intentionally made during The View’s July 25th segment were unquestionably harmful to TPUSA’s reputation and brought the organization and its student affiliates into disrepute with the public, potential donors, and current and future business partners, posing a significant financial loss to the organization,” the letter said. 

Haines said on Wednesday that the hosts apologize for “anything we said that may have been unclear on these points.”