Sen. John Fetterman is headed to Mar-a-Lago to meet with Donald Trump, making him the first Democratic senator to do so since the president-elect won re-election. And while the hosts of “The View” understand why the meeting is happening, they don’t love where it’s happening.
Speaking to press last week, Fetterman explained that he is meeting with Trump on behalf of his state of Pennsylvania, which did vote for Trump in 2024. Fetterman noted that he himself was elected to represent all Pennsylvanians, not just those in his party, and he wants to have a line of communication with Trump.
“It’s the most common sense answer I’ve ever heard,” host Sara Haines said on “The View” on Monday. “He’s a senator to an entire state, and his state happened to turn for Donald Trump.”
Her co-hosts largely agreed, but Ana Navarro took more issue with the fact that the meeting is happening at Mar-a-Lago.
“I have to say, I don’t like the optics of him going down to Mar-a-Lago, because I think that’s become kind of like, you know, Donald Trump’s little palace,” she said. “And it’s like trekking down to Mecca, to see the prophet, so I don’t like that, and it feels like he’s yucking it up.”
That said, Navarro added that it “used to be normal” to see presidents having relationships with politicians from opposing parties.
“The problem is, Donald Trump is not normal. And so, what used to be normal becomes something that we talk about. I think John Fetterman, frankly, is right, but I hope that this does not mean that he won’t call out the abuses of power, that he won’t criticize [Trump] when there is legitimate criticism.”
Host Sunny Hostin agreed, particularly when it comes to the optics of where the meeting is taking place.
“I don’t like the optics of going down to Mar-a-Lago and kissing the ring. I mean, he’s gonna be — Donald Trump will be in Washington, he should’ve been in Washington already, because he should’ve been transitioning with his team, but he has refused to sign the GSA agreement.”
“The View” airs weekdays at 11 a.m. ET on ABC.
