After it was revealed this week that classified documents from Joe Biden’s time as the vice president were recently found in his private office, the hosts of “The View” are defending the now-president, arguing that his situation is vastly different than Donald Trump’s.
On Monday, it was reported that Biden’s team discovered 10 classified documents in a locked closet, while cleaning out his office last Fall. According to a statement from Biden’s attorneys, the documents were turned over to the National Archives the morning after they were found, and it remains unclear what the documents pertain to or why they were taken to Biden’s private office.
Meanwhile, late last year, it was discovered that twice-impeached former president Trump had taken hundreds of classified documents from his time in office to his Mar-A-Lago residence, and kept them in a room that was unlocked and several people had access to. Those documents are only in the government’s possession now because the FBI seized them in a raid on Trump’s Florida resort, after months of trying to get him to return them voluntarily.
Naturally, Trump supporters are seizing on the opportunity to use Biden’s criticisms of Trump against him, and arguing that Biden should’ve not only been raided on the same level, but indicted and prosecuted. But, as we mentioned, the hosts of “The View” are not among them. Host Sunny Hostin argued on Tuesday that even comparing the two situations is like “comparing apples to orangutans.”
“Facts matter. And let’s not talk about alternative facts,” Hostin said. “Let’s talk about the fact that Donald Trump was asked to return the documents voluntarily, refused, then refused several subpoenas, kept [the documents] in toilets, and kept them not in a locked place, and kept them on the floor. Anybody could have had access.”
She continued, “He had top secret classified information, including things that would have put people’s lives in danger, including nuclear documents, and there were 300 documents found! So I think you cannot compare one to the other. That’s like comparing apples to orangutans, OK? Clearly different.”
And while host Alyssa Farah Griffin agreed that the circumstances in each situation are different, she worried that the discovery in Biden’s office will result in a lack of action over Trump.
“I want to be clear, the facts are different than the Trump case,” Farah Griffin said. “However, I think this is a huge win for Trump because if you’re Merrick Garland — who is already extremely cautious and doesn’t want to break the long-standing precedent of not indicting a president — it’s very hard to make the case that Donald Trump should be indicted for this, even though the facts are different, when [Trump] can argue ‘Well, now the Vice President also took home classified documents.’ I think that this kills the case.”
You can watch the full segment from “The View” in the video above.