Key Points
- Joy Behar voiced a grim premonition for the United States under Donald Trump.
- The comedian said it’s “delusional” to think America can survive the current presidential term.
- “It’s only Tuesday, Joy, can we not start there?” cohost Sara Haines replied.
If you think you’ll still be around in four years’ time, The View‘s resident comedian Joy Behar has a positive affirmation that will bring you right back down to earth.
During a spirited conversation on Tuesday about the dire state of American politics following House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries slamming Donald Trump for posting an AI-generated image of Jeffries wearing a sombrero, The View cohosts criticized government figures in power over their interpersonal interactions.
“I’m getting tired of the tippy-top-top doing the ‘us and them,’ the ‘left and right,'” panelist Sara Haines said. “Everyone needs healthcare, everyone needs food, everyone needs affordable housing. We’re more unified than we are not. The name-calling and the stupid AI and the imagery has got to stop. It’s time to lead.”
Behar then jumped in to offer a projection for where the country — and its people — are headed under Trump’s leadership.
Joy Behar and Sara Haines on ‘The View’
“If you guys think we can survive another three and a half years of this, I think you’re delusional. Every day there’s some nihilistic thing,” the 82-year-old said.
Haines spoke over her, advising, “It’s only Tuesday, Joy. Can we not start there?”
Behar pressed on, adding that she hates “to be Debbie Downer, but every day this guy is undoing something in this country that we value.”
She continued, “Every day is shock and awe here. I, for one, am skeptical that we will survive this.”
The comedian’s cohosts expressed more optimistic views, with Sunny Hostin and Alyssa Farah Griffin pushing back against the prediction.
Hostin brought up that Behar lived through other difficult periods in the country, including the civil rights movement.
“I grew up during World War II,” Behar said, suggesting that she thinks Trump is worse. “They were all dealt with by presidents who were not in the business of destroying the country.”
Joy Behar, Sara Haines, Sunny Hostin, and Alyssa Farah Griffin on ‘The View’
She said that past presidents “followed the law, including Nixon, as bad as he was,” and said that Nixon still “had respect for the Constitution, and he didn’t go after the military and call them names. I’ve never heard of such a thing in this country.”
Behar’s comments come amid the White House again speaking out against a cohost on The View, with spokesperson Abigail Jackson releasing a statement to Entertainment Weekly overnight criticizing panelist Ana Navarro.
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The White House has similarly targeted Behar in the past, with recent statements to EW calling her “Joyless Behar” and expressing a desire for her to leave the country. Last week, the White House told EW that Behar is “wrong about many things” after she defended Jimmy Kimmel during his temporary suspension.
The View airs weekdays at 11 a.m. ET/10 a.m. PT on ABC.
