The View co-host Joy Behar said those who brought firearms to recent stay-at-home protests were “terrorists.”
Demonstrations meant to voice frustration at stringent social distancing restrictions that protesters believe are strangling them economically have taken place in states across the country. There have been reports of demonstrators carrying weapons at some of the events.
The hosts of ABC’s The View discussed the armed protesters and President Trump’s comments about the demonstrations during Monday’s show.
Behar acknowledged that she “feel[s] for” the millions of people who have lost their jobs due to the coronavirus but added that “they have to understand that they can infect other people.”
Providing a twist on a quote from Patrick Henry, a founding father of the United States, Behar said: “Give me liberty and give me death is what they’re basically proposing because a lot of people are going to die because of this behavior.”
“These people are being egged on by right-wing media and people like Alex Jones and Rush Limbaugh,” Behar continued. “And why are you bringing guns to a rally? You want to call yourself protesters, leave your guns home. Those are terrorists who bring guns to things — to rallies.”
Chiming in, co-host Sunny Hostin brought up Trump tweeting to his followers last week that people in Michigan, Minnesota, and Virginia should “liberate” themselves and reopen their economies. Trump added, “Save your great 2nd Amendment,” to his Virginia tweet in a reference to new gun control legislation passed by the Virginia General Assembly this year.
Trump later said the restrictions instituted by the Democratic governors of these states were “too tough.”
Hostin characterized the president’s tweets as “implying” and “inciting” an “insurrection.”
Meghan McCain, a conservative co-host on the show, said she understood the plight of the protesters who brought firearms with them but noted that she was torn about where she stood in the debate.
“I continue to be split on it because I see those kind of protesters with guns, and I understand that for a lot of people watching this show, that may seem very foreign, and it may seem violent, but it’s perfectly normal to me, and it’s perfectly legal in the states that they did it in,” she said. “And it’s a culture symbol. Anyone who’s bringing a gun to a rally is obviously showing which side of the gun argument they’re on, which is an argument that’s being brought up in these type of protests.”
