"The View" co-host Sunny Hostin fumed over Donald Trump's first televised town hall of the 2024 election cycle on CNN and said she was "disgusted" by the network giving the Republican front-runner a platform.
"So what is the point of this new town hall that he’s doing? And did we learn nothing from [former CBS executive] Les Moonves saying, ‘Bad for the country but great for the network’?" co-host Whoopi Goldberg asked.
"That’s what I’m so disgusted by, because, again, 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’re currently a criminal defendant, and likely to be a criminal defendant in two other jurisdictions, and you grab women by their genitals, I know everything I need to know about you," Hostin said.
She argued that CNN shouldn't give "that type of person" a platform.
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"I'm actually dismayed that CNN, on May 10th at 8 o'clock is going to be giving – I just did a commercial for them – I can't believe that they're going to be giving him this platform. He is one of the most destructive people," Hostin said.
Co-host Joy Behar, an outspoken critic of the former president, said she disagreed with Hostin.
"I can't stand him, as you know, but he is the front-runner for the Republican Party," she said. "Let them do it. This is a free country. This is America. Let him go out there and let him show again the American people that he’s a sociopath. First of all, this forum requires a person who has empathy."
Co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin said there was a "vital public interest" in a Trump town hall.
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"74 million people voted for him. This is a chance for them to have him answer direct questions about his beliefs. It’s the first major interview he's done with an unfriendly outlet since the insurrection," she said.
Trump officially launched his 2024 election campaign in November.
Co-host Sara Haines also disagreed with Hostin. "The media’s job is to ask questions, to push back, to challenge. It is not our decision as to who people vote for, this might be the lead candidate. Sunny, the reasons you just listed are the reasons I’m disgusted by him and would never vote for him, but I would not silence him. I believe our job as the media is to provide information, to push back," she said.
Behar claimed "the first time the media gave him a pass" and said "we didn't know what he was really about."
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Goldberg added that everyone had the choice to watch or not watch Trump's town hall.
"Everybody in this room has the opportunity to either watch or not watch. That is your prerogative," she said. "And, you know, they have put all kinds of folks – the other sad thing to me, is once you put this guy up, and you kind of say, this is the front-runner, it seems like you’re saying and ‘nobody else is going to be there.’"
