Watch: 'View' Panelists Dive Into Freakout Mode After Guest Makes One Request of Biden
One of the common complaints from the left about former President Donald Trump was that he was “unpresidential.” At least for the liberal ladies of “The View,” however, unpresidential behavior is just fine for the current resident of the White House — and they freaked out when one of their own implied it wasn’t.
On Tuesday’s show, co-host Lisa Ling said President Joe Biden should “apologize” to the “American people” for calling Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy a “stupid son of a b****” on a hot mic Monday.
This wasn’t the first time that someone from the White House has had a problem with Doocy, one of the only people in the White House press room who gets tough with the administration.
Ling — not quite a conservative, given her main gig is on CNN — thought Biden’s hot mic moment was serious enough that he needed to make amends.
Just in case you missed it, here’s Uncle Joe cussing Doocy out:
WARNING: The following video contains graphic language that some viewers will find offensive.
President Biden appears to call Fox News’ Peter Doocy a “stupid son of a bitch,” mocking his question about inflation. pic.twitter.com/mZcp0f2Jyl
— The Recount (@therecount) January 24, 2022
“Don’t you think he should apologize to the American people?” Ling sked during the panel discussion.
“No, I don’t think he should apologize to the American people,” Whoopi Goldberg said.
“Did Trump apologize for calling Jim Acosta a rude, terrible person?” co-host Joy Behar said. “Abby Phillips, ‘questions are stupid,’ etc.”
Back in 2018, Trump responded to a query from CNN’s Abby Phillips by saying, “What a stupid question,” adding that she “asks a lot of stupid questions.”
This probably wasn’t the best example for Behar to give, however, given that Trump’s response — which still didn’t involve calling Phillips a “stupid son of a b****,” it’s worth noting — generated plenty of outrage at the time and turned Phillips into a cause célèbre among liberals like Joy Behar.
With Acosta, too, the situation was similar: The CNN White House correspondent’s fame, such as it may have been, was based on his fractious relationship with Trump and members of his administration. The face that he’s now entertaining CNN’s minuscule weekend audience on Saturday and Sunday afternoons says everything there is to know about current Acosta’s star power.
A clip of his will sometimes make the rounds on political Twitter if he rants with especial bluster about Fox News’ treacheries or the like, but this is provided anyone actually sees it.
Getting back to Biden, however, Ling said, “I just think that [Biden] should acknowledge that he was a poor example for–“
“No, I’m sorry, that he should acknowledge he’s human,” Goldberg said, cutting her off. “Because that happens sometimes when people ask you endless, stupid questions from one particular place, and sometimes you just lose it for a second.”
“The difference is, he said, ‘OK, let me call him and apologize because that happens,’” Goldberg continued. “I think that, for me, is the representation of what a human being, as president, should be. Yeah, an adult.”
Well, Biden didn’t exactly apologize. He did call Doocy to kind-of-sort-of apologize, though, and Doocy seems fine with it.
“He said ‘It’s nothing personal, pal,'” Doocy said on Fox News. “And we went back and forth, and we were talking about just kind of moving forward, and I made sure to tell him that I’m always gonna try to ask something different than what everybody else is asking. And he said, ‘You got to.’ And that’s a quote from the president, so I’ll keep doing it.”
Meanwhile, back on “The View,” Ling tried to speak again, saying, “I hear you, Whoopi,” but Behar cut her off before she could make a point.
“It points out the difference between Biden and Trump — because Trump, let us not forget, said the press is the enemy of the people,” Behar said. “Even Chris Wallace acknowledged that in 2019. He said ‘I believe that President Trump is engaged in the most direct, sustained assault on freedom of the press in our history.’ So, OK, so ‘the stupid SOB,’ he says. It’s nothing to what Trump said or did.”
“I agree with you, but we can’t keep comparing him to Trump,” Ling said.
“Yes we can,” Behar responded.
She added that she “will” keep comparing Biden to the former president.
Ling added that Doocy had been asking about the midterms and inflation, both of which were a “real issue.”
“But it was a sarcastic question, right, Lisa?” co-host Sunny Hostin said. “He’s like, ‘Will that be a liability?’ Of course it’s a liability.”
What’s amazing here is that “The View” has dropped all pretense of having a conservative counterweight on the show. At this point, it could safely be renamed “A View,” since the co-hosts cluster so closely together on the left side of the political quadrant.
Ling merely requested Biden apologize to the American people, if he was serious about respecting the media and setting an example, for calling Doocy a “stupid son of a b****.”
The president isn’t serious, but he doesn’t have to be: The Joy Behars, Whoopi Goldbergs and Sunny Hostins of the world will come running to his defense any time something like this happens. They’ll keep comparing Biden to Trump — you know, the guy whose “unpresidential” antics prompted many a freakout on “The View” between 2016 and 2020.
Don’t expect them to apply the same standards, though.
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