Charlamagne Tha God doesn’t think the hosts of The View are hard enough on Donald Trump, he said on the show Wednesday, as he confronted them for constantly “apologizing” to the president-elect with “legal notes” meant to absolve the show from lawsuits.
During The Breakfast Club host’s appearance on the show, he explained his criticism of mainstream media for “normalizing” Trump—a point he made headlines for before the election, when he accused Anderson Cooper of doing so during an October appearance on CNN. Now that Trump has won the White House again, Charlamagne said the news will never cover Trump “honestly.”
“It’s not even just cable news, it’s no network—nobody. Because they didn’t do it before, so why would they do it now? They’re scared to death. He’s the president of the United States of America,” he said on The View.
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The View hosts were surprised that Charlamagne did not excuse them from the critique, with Joy Behar chiming in with, “What about us?” and Sunny Hostin asking, “Um, have you watched The View?”
The daytime talk show has been so unfiltered in their daily critiques of Trump over the years that conservatives have called for the show to be canceled.
As recently as two weeks ago, Piers Morgan penned an op-ed in The New York Post complaining that “all day long, I’m subjected to [The View hosts] all snarling, whining, scowling, seething and cursing about the same thing: Donald Trump.” Trump himself made them regular targets for insults on the campaign trail. But Charlamagne said that the hosts of the show are just as “scared” as any other talking heads when discussing the president-elect.
“Let’s be honest Sunny,” Charlamagne said to Hostin, “I saw you have to apologize a couple times last week [for on-air comments about Trump], so somebody’s comin’ with some notes from downstairs,” he said. The hosts were to interrupt the show with “legal notes” to read on air four times in a single show last week during a conversation about several of Trump’s cabinet picks and their alleged crimes.
“I’m not apologizing,” Hostin said in defense, “I’m making a legal note as an attorney of law.”
“Because you know we have a petty president incoming, that is going to be very litigious,” Charlamagne shot back, driving home his point that the hosts were fearful of potential retribution.
Behar, one of Trump’s most outspoken critics on the show, seemed particularly put off by being lumped together with other “scared” journalists. “We check ourselves through ABC News,” she said.
When Haines asked what covering Trump “honestly” looks like, Charlamagne said, “You should just honestly call it how you see it.”
Hostin agreed, but added, “and have legal notes!”
“We have differences of opinions about this,” Goldberg said at the segment’s conclusion, “I don’t have a party because none of them make me happy.”
“See, that’s an honest opinion,” Charlamagne said.
