‘The View’ Hosts Sound Off on J.D. Vance as Trump VP Pick: ‘Good News for the Democrats’

Amanda Bell July 16, 2024, 12:11 pm

The hosts of The View weighed in on Donald Trump choosing J.D. Vance as his running mate for the 2024 presidential ticket, and at least one of the panelists believes it’s a gift to his opponents.

After reviewing footage of Vance appearing on Fox News and answering for some of his prior comments about Trump — including calling him “America’s Hitler” — Joy Behar offered her thoughts right away, saying, “I think this is a very good choice … for the Democrats. This is good news for the Democrats, in my opinion.”

“He’s a carbon copy of Trump, so what new voters is he going to bring in? Not the suburban mom, not the girl who needs an abortion, not the gay people who want to retain their rights, not people who support Ukraine. So what exactly did he accomplish?” Behar said.

She went on to lambaste some of Vance’s stances, such as opposing abortions in almost all cases and suggesting that battered spouses should stay in their abusive relationships: “I work a lot for The Retreat, which is an organization that protects women from abusive husbands. They go to this place in their pajamas, they run with their children in their pajamas, and so to stay in a marriage like that not only puts the woman at risk, but the children at risk,” Behar insisted. “He is completely distorted in his views, and so is Trump. So the two of them have that in common. What’s the point?”

Alyssa Farah Griffin, former Trump administration official and resident conservative voice of the panel, agreed but had a different take.

“This was a gamble by Donald Trump to pick him. It was a name that had been out there — his son, Don Jr, and Eric Trump had really been pushing for him, as had Elon Musk and some of these Silicon Valley tech billionaire bro types… He’s got some talents. This is somebody who’s incredibly savvy. Is a Yale Law grad. He’s a former Marine. But for every normal interview he’s given in mainstream media, there are extremely polarizing clips of him in some of the farthest right corners of the internet espousing things that are outside of the political mainstream. Democrats are going to have a field day picking apart some of the things he said. But why did he pick him? Yesterday, Elon Musk gets reported committed to giving $45 million a month to a Trump-aligned Super PAC if J.D. Vance has been announced by the VP. We are seeing a total realignment of Republican politics.”

Griffin continued by offering a rebuke of Monday’s RNC, in which the announcement was made, saying, “Listen, I’m grateful Donald Trump is safe. I think it was a powerful moment to see he survived this assassination attempt. But the policies that were espoused, Reaganism is dead. This is a very different party. You had the Teamsters on stage. You had J.D. Vance, your people talking about Ukraine shouldn’t be supported. It’s a really odd moment in our politics. As a Republican, I don’t even know where I fit in anymore. This certainly doesn’t bring in the Nikki Haley national security Republicans. But I also think Donald Trump picked him, not just because of the money, because he’s so confident he’s winning, he could afford to take somebody who’s a little bit risky.”

Sunny Hostin, on the other hand, offered her thought as to why Vance was Trump’s pick, saying, “I think he picked him because he knows that he’s the vice president that will do the things that Mike Pence would not. I really do believe that he is an election denier.”

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“I think another reason why he picked him is because of Project 2025,” Hostin continued. “I know we don’t have enough time to go over it, but some of the huge things of that platform is end marriage equality, limit the United States’ role in NATO, dismantle the Department of Education, raise prescription drug prices for seniors, and end the Affordable Care Act. That’s Project 2025. Project 2025 has praised J.D. Vance… the president of the Heritage Foundation said this: ‘J.D. Vance is absolutely going to be one of the leaders, if not the leader, of our movement.'”

Sara Haines then offered her two cents on the matter, agreeing in part with all of her colleagues by saying, “I don’t think J.D. Vance moved the needle on any voters at all, but I think it was a loud message to the Republican Party. It was a doubling down of the MAGA agenda. There was a lot of talk that he could have pulled in a Marco Rubio, even a Nikki Haley up to the last minute, to expand his voter base. He didn’t feel he needed to, which should also tell us something. I think he picked someone that is kind of fodder for the Dems, but there’s a reason he’s feeling that right now, and he went with a guy that’s not going to add anything.”

Whoopi Goldberg, who returned after several episodes away due to illness, closed with a reminder that it’s up to viewers to decide for themselves and that no one — not even this panel — could choose for them at the ballot box.

The View, weekdays, 11 a.m. ET, ABC

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