“The View” co-host Sunny Hostin called out a double standard Monday as the ABC show’s panel debated Senator Kamala Harris’ handling of a rally-goer’s use of the phrase “mentally retarded” to describe President Donald Trump’s behavior.
“I think she’s getting so much flack for not…handling it a better way,” Hostin said of the presidential candidate, who has since apologized. “All of these candidates have had these gaffes, especially Joe Biden. He gets a pass all the time for these gaffes. Donald Trump gets a pass all the time.”
Co-host Joy Behar cut in, pointing out that during his own run for president, Trump appeared to mock a physically disabled reporter.
“She’s getting so much flack for words she didn’t even say,” Hostin concluded, saying it “says a lot about where we are in this race right now because the men get passes every single time.”
“My entire life — I’m almost 35 years old — I’ve known that’s not a word you can say,” co-host Meghan McCain said. “I just assumed if you were running for president, you would know that, too.”
She compared what she saw as Harris’ choice to claim she didn’t initially hear the speaker use the slur and her inability to apologize to Trump’s refusal to apologize, too.
Co-host Whoopi Goldberg opened the segment by calling the phrase in question a “no-no” and playing a clip of the much-discussed moment from a campaign stop in New Hampshire on Friday, where Harris responded to the rally-goer’s lengthy question, which included the phrase, with “well said” as the crowd laughed.
Saturday, Harris tweeted, “When my staff played the video from my town hall yesterday, it was upsetting. I didn’t hear the words the man used in that moment, but if I had I would’ve stopped and corrected him. I’m sorry. That word and others like it aren’t acceptable. Ever.”
KAMALA HARRIS APOLOGIZES FOR LAUGHING AT SLUR: The presidential candidate is under fire for laughing when an audience member used an anti-disability slur when referring to Pres. Trump — the co-hosts weigh in after she says she apologized. https://t.co/1091s9Fn2d pic.twitter.com/njAYnnULRf
— The View (@TheView) September 9, 2019