The ladies of The View called President Trump’s administration a “circus” after recent reports that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth may have committed a war crime.
Joy Behar and Sunny Hostin speculated that Trump was unlikely to fire Hegseth despite the controversies he’s faced during his time leading the Department of Defense.
Behar was the first to posit Trump is “not gonna get rid of him” during Thursday’s (Dec. 4) broadcast, prompting Hostin to chime in and add, “I don’t think he’s gonna get rid of him either, because I think it would be admitting that he put forth the wrong person and he supposedly surrounds himself with the best people.”
She continued with a laugh, “They’re so unqualified, I’m telling you. When you hire a clown, you got a circus. That’s what happens.” She added, “There’s no real leadership at the top. It’s a circus.”
Whoopi Goldberg then weighed in and slammed Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and Kash Patel, the director of the FBI.
“Think about it, everyone’s playing dress up,” Goldberg complained. “From Kristi Noem, to Pete Hegseth, Kash Patel, – they’re all playing dress up. It’s like they think they’re in a movie.”
After Alyssa Farah Griffin noted that “the stakes couldn’t be higher” for the Department of Defense, Behar accused Trump of using Hegseth’s controversy as a distraction.
“Trump would rather have an allegation of a war crime than let people in America focus on a bad economy and the Epstein files,” she said. “They would rather you look over here than over here.”
Sara Haines seemed to agree, adding, “He’s working some angle.”
Earlier this week, the ladies of The View debated whether U.S. troops could be held responsible for following Hegseth’s orders after he allegedly ordered military officials to kill everyone aboard the boat, resulting in a second strike that killed two remaining survivors, per The Washington Post. Hegseth has denied the report.
Hostin said this could put “people that are serving this country as patriots” at risk.
“What he’s done is he’s set them up,” Goldberg declared on the show. “Listen, this is not the first time it’s happened. This is like the fifth, sixth or seven time. At some point, somebody is responsible and the buck stops there.”
The View airs on weekdays at 11/10c on ABC.
