“The View” host Sunny Hostin had a suggestion for Fox News Channel on Wednesday’s show: drop the word “news.” At this point, she argued, they’re more like propaganda.
Hostin made her argument as the hosts discussed the text messages read by Liz Cheney this week, revealing that multiple Fox News personalities texted former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows on Jan. 6, begging him to get Trump to condemn the riots at the Capitol. While Joy Behar slammed hosts like Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham for being among those who reached out to Meadows, Hostin was more gobsmacked by the fact that they even could.
“To be able to text the Chief of Staff, and almost demand the president of the United States do something, that is almost unfettered access,” Hostin said. “And that leads me to believe that it shouldn’t be called the Fox News Channel. I mean, is it really a news organization or is it just state propaganda? If it’s a state sponsored channel, they shouldn’t be called the Fox News Channel, it should just be Fox.”
Behar agreed with at least part of that statement, saying it’s not a news organization. “It is state propaganda, absolutely,” she said.
You can watch the full discussion on “The View” in the video above. Reps for Fox News did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
Behar then asked for Hostin’s thoughts on the average Fox viewer, posing the question of if they can recognize “the hypocrisy” of these people. At that, Hostin reiterated her feelings that “they’re not getting news.”
“It’s not news,” Hostin said. “I mean, a court found that Tucker Carlson lies to his viewers. It’s an entertainment show, and that he lies knowingly, and that it’s not considered real news. And so the viewers should know that.”