The ladies of ABC’s “The View” were in a panic about Robert Kennedy Jr.’s presidential bid as they began the week on Monday morning.
Co-host Sara Haines was so concerned she declared this year is “not the time” for someone such as Kennedy to potentially play the role of “spoiler” for President Joe Biden’s re-election bid.
Whoopi Goldberg began a discussion on the topic by noting that Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom told ABC’s Jonathan Karl on Sunday that he is very worried Kennedy’s independent presidential campaign could harm Biden in the general election.
“Are you concerned with the governor’s concerns about … a third party?” Goldberg asked.
Sunny Hostin said she was “very concerned” about Kennedy’s run and how it could affect the election.
She cited Green Party candidate Jill Stein’s impact on the 2016 presidential race between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump.
“I just learned today that when Jill Stein ran and it was Trump versus Hillary, there were three states — Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — where Stein’s vote total exceeded Trump’s margin of victory,” Hostin said.
She went on to say that had Stein stayed out of the race, “Hillary Clinton would be president.”
Ana Navarro, one of the show’s supposed Republicans, then chimed in.
Will Trump be elected president?
Yes: 98% (39 Votes)
No: 2% (1 Votes)
Navarro invoked the 1992 presidential race in which she said independent candidate Ross Perot spoiled the re-election bid of then-President George H.W. Bush.
She described both Bush and his opponent — then-Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton — as both “normal and “sane,” contrasting that with Trump, the GOP front-runner.
“In this case, you have got Joe Biden — a sane, decent, normal human being — running against a man who is an existential threat to democracy and to the foreign world, to the international world, to the universe,” Navarro said.
She then exclaimed that the country cannot tolerate Kennedy’s bid for the White House.
While Alyssa Farah Griffin was agreeing with her, Navarro interrupted to dehumanize Trump supporters.
“The people who support Trump are cult members … and the people who support Biden are normal human beings,” she said to applause.
Haines then portrayed Kennedy’s campaign as a threat to the two-party system.
“This is not the time for a third party. Change comes very slowly in this country,” she said.
Haines further argued that there is “no room” for an independent candidate this year.
SHOULD DEMS BE WORRIED ABOUT A THIRD PARTY CANDIDATE? After California Gov. Gavin Newsom expressed concerns to @ABC News’ @jonkarl that third party candidates could be “spoilers” for Democrats and Pres. Biden come November, #TheView co-hosts weigh in. https://t.co/cVclFZQmjA pic.twitter.com/eBXvnxHZTv
— The View (@TheView) January 29, 2024
On Sunday, Newsom said on ABC’s “This Week” that he was concerned about third-party or independent candidates becoming “spoilers.”
“I’m worried,” the governor said, according to a transcript. “But you know what? You’ve got to control the controllables. Got to control what you have to control. Right now, it’s getting the vote out.”
Kennedy isn’t the only possible spoiler in the race for the Democrats. Stein is again seeking the Green Party’s nomination, and left-wing social critic Cornel West is running as an independent candidate.
Meanwhile, Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia also has said he might enter the race.
