Joy Behar and Meghan McCain, co-hosts of ABC’s “The View,” argued on Monday about whether antifa exists as a physical group or an ideology and if it is responsible for some reported political violence across the country.
“Antifa does exist,” McCain said, breaking off from a discussion on the show regarding controversial comments made by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) last week suggesting he did not feel threatened by supporters of former President Trump who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Johnson said that he might have been afraid for his safety if the rioters had been affiliated with “Black Lives Matter and antifa.”
“What separates antifa is their willingness to use violence. I have very good friends who have been reporting on antifa for months, and months, and months,” McCain said on Monday. “We can walk and chew gum at the same time. We can say Ron Johnson is an absolute moron, we can say that not all activism is violent, but the idea that antifa doesn’t exist is just factually inaccurate and wrong and a lie.”
The daughter of late Republican Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) referenced reports of a federal courthouse in Portland, Ore., being set on fire during civil unrest there over the weekend. The courthouse was the site of various demonstrations against police brutality in the months that followed the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Behar later took exception with McCain’s insistence that antifa was responsible for such attacks and should not be dismissed.
“I just want to clarify that … the FBI director says that antifa is an ideology not an organization,” Behar said. “There is no sign that they were involved in the Capitol siege, let’s be clear.”
“I’m not saying they were involved in the Capitol siege, I’m saying they exist,” McCain chimed in.
“I’m done,” Behar shot back. “I said my … thing and you said yours I’m done.”
“You said it was a fantasy, you said antifa doesn’t exist and it’s a fantasy,” McCain pressed.
Behar shouted at McCain: “It’s an idea,” pointing to her head.
“No it’s not,” McCain responded, before the show cut to commercial.
In the days following the Jan. 6 attack, Trump and some of his allies suggested that some of the rioters committing violence at the Capitol that day were members of antifa, something they describe as a far-left group of violent and organized extremists.