“The View” devolved into chaos Monday morning as audience members interrupted the show to protest Ted Cruz’s appearance, forcing producers to cut to commercial when the shouting turned profane. Now, New York activists have taken responsibility for the altercation, announcing that it is the first protest of a new movement.
Appearing on “The View” to promote his new book, Cruz was answering one of the host’s questions when at least two audience members began shouting phrases like, “Cover climate now!” As they chanted, the senator continued barreling through his answer. Eventually, moderator Whoopi Goldberg cut them off, telling them, “Let us do our job. We hear what you have to say, but you gotta go!” Meanwhile, other hosts pointed out that they do cover climate change on the show.
Later, another audience member stood up and shouted further, but was censored by ABC, and the show cut to a commercial. Now, in new video released by Extinction Rebellion NYC — an organization dedicated to “nonviolent direct action” — it’s been revealed that the protestor was yelling “F— you Ted Cruz, you climate-denying piece of s—.”
You can watch that moment, which earned applause from much of the audience, in the video below.
According to Extinction Rebellion, the protest was the first of more to come in the city. “This kicks off #OccupyParkAve, in collaboration with @nychange, @sunrisemvmtnyc and other allies in NYC—with protests taking place along Park Avenue all week,” the organization tweeted.
New York Communities for Change also posted video of the exchange, explaining that it was meant to protest ABC at large, not just Ted Cruz.
“Whoopi said, ‘Let us do our job’—but your network is failing to do ITS job! It spent less than 6 hrs on climate in 2021!” the organization tweeted. In a follow-up tweet, they criticized the hosts’ defense of “The View.”
“@ABC thinks itself good on climate. After they kicked us out, the hosts told everyone they cover climate,” they wrote. “It’s greenwashing: even during this record-breaking summer of heatwaves, it often failed to connect the dots to climate crisis & call out fossil fuels.”
ABC News created a climate unit in November 2021 and was the only broadcast network present at the UN Climate Summit that same year. It has been honored with Murrow and Emmy Awards for the network’s climate coverage, and a Polk Award for David Muir’s Children of Madagascar reporting.
