Tension flared on ABC’s "The View" on Friday as the co-hosts discussed the anti-Israel protests on college campuses nationwide.
The co-hosts clashed with each other on multiple points concerning the demonstrations, the first being that the imagery of the chaos on campus would help former President Trump’s re-election chances, and the second being who the victims are in these protests.
Co-host Sunny Hostin sparked the debate on both topics, showing visible anger at co-host Sarah Haines for bringing up the fact that people may be distracted from the January 6 Capitol riot because of these new chaotic images; and elsewhere causing a stir by saying the student protesters are being victimized by police.
The arguments over the protests began after a discussion of an upcoming Trump donor event where the former president was looking to vet his potential vice presidential nominee.
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Despite most of the ladies on the panel mocking Trump’s legal woes and his potential running mate picks, Haines burst the bubble, noting that many are being driven to attend the fundraiser because of the chaos they’re seeing on the news stemming from the campus protests.
"One of the people with this event said donors are flocking to this event due to the horror of nightly images they see on TV," Haines said, which appeared to frustrate Hostin.
The co-host interrupted Haines, asking, "Do they not remember the visuals on January 6th? Do they not remember those visuals of chaos?"
"I think – I think, in the human – literally, humans look at the recent visions. So, nightly image right now matters more to them than January 6th," Haines argued.
Hostin forcefully shot back, "January 6th is ingrained in my memory and it should be ingrained in every single person’s memory in the United States of America."
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Co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin acknowledged Hostin’s point, but bolstered Haines’ argument, adding, "It should be, but while there are completely different – a lot of the imagery looks similar and it was, you know, you’re going to see Republicans seeing windows being smashed, things being defaced on college campuses and it evokes that same sense of lawlessness."
After discussing some of the violence and destruction that has gone on during the campus demonstrations, Hostin said the anti-Israel agitators have faced violence and fear.
"There are also anti-protesters that have come in and caused violence to these encampments. Let’s not forget that part of the story," Hostin said.
Co-host Joy Behar cut in, stating, "You know what? There are a lot of parts to this story."
Hostin continued, "Can I just also say this? Let’s also remember that these kids that are protesting grew up with active fire drills, and for them to be subjected to the type of police violence that we are seeing on the nightly news is something also…" She was then cut off.
Sympathizing with the university students that can’t get to class because of the protests, Haines pushed back on Hostin’s point. "There are also students that can’t get across campus. The antithesis of freedom of speech is threatening someone, they have to say what you believe to cross the campus," she said.
"That’s also problematic," Haines declared.
