The hosts of ABC’s “The View” are at odds about CNN’s decision to host a town hall with former President Trump next week.
“What is the point of this new town hall that he’s doing? And did we learn nothing from Les Moonves saying, ‘Bad for the country, but great for the network?’” host Whoopi Goldberg asked, opening the discussion with a reference to the former CBS chairman who acknowledged in 2016 Trump was an audience boon for major media companies.
“Well, that’s what I’m so disgusted by,” co-host Sunny Hostin said. “When someone shows you who they are, you believe them. When you show that you are an insurrectionist, that you’re a liar, that you’re a bigot, that you’re a racist. That you’re sexist. That you’re twice impeached. That you are currently a criminal defendant and likely to be a criminal defendant in two other jurisdictions. … I know everything I need to know about you.”
Hostin added, “You don’t give that kind of person a platform.”
Joy Behar, another leading Trump critic on the daytime table talk show, pushed back on Hostin’s suggestion Trump should be shut out of media coverage.
“I have to disagree with you. I can’t stand him, as you know. But he is the front-runner for the Republican party. … I would let them do it; it is a free country. This is America,” Behar interjected. “Let him go out there and let him show again to the American people that he is a sociopath.”
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CNN announced earlier this week it would host a town hall special on Tuesday with Trump, which will air in prime time. The decision is widely seen as a major moment both for CNN and for Trump, with the network looking to boost its sluggish ratings and Trump attempting to enter the mainstream of political discourse ahead of the 2024 Republican presidential primary.
Trump has long been a sharp critic of CNN and the news media.
“I find it extraordinary,” Goldberg said. “… That a guy who had such vitriolic response to that network and networks that were not kissing his behind … that he is now going on these networks and saying, ‘Hey, here’s who I am.’ I find it interesting, man,” Goldberg said.