The hosts of The View kicked off Wednesday’s broadcast by circling the wagons around John Fetterman following Tuesday night’s “painful” Senate debate performance which saw the Pennsylvania Democrat noticeably struggling with auditory processing issues following his stroke.
Besides roundly defending the Senate hopeful’s uncomfortably conflicting statements on fracking, the panelists also accused GOP nominee Dr. Mehmet Oz of bullying his opponent throughout the debate.
“It was really strange to me that he chose to bully a stroke victim,” co-host Sunny Hostin declared at one point.
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Co-host Sara Haines got the discussion going on Wednesday morning by balking at Oz’s assertion that abortion should be a decision made between “women, doctors, [and] local political leaders,” stating that is where the celebrity TV doctor fell off with her.
“[That’s] where he lost me because I thought he was going in the right direction, and I think as a doctor he knows how intimate and important those decisions are,” she said. “So I find that answer particularly and that stance a bit intellectually dishonest, but it was the way he delivered it that got me. You should know that's not going to end well when you start like that.”
Liberal host Joy Behar, meanwhile, took aim at Oz’s campaign quickly capitalizing on Fetterman’s stumbles during the debate, wondering aloud why a physician would seemingly mock a recent stroke victim. In fact, she went so far as to claim that Oz was violating the Hippocratic Oath.
“What kind of a doctor is behind that? Aren't you supposed to do no harm?” Behar fumed. “It's so un-empathetic to the guy, you know?”
Adding that she has known Oz for years and he even helped her out with a doctor’s recommendation in the past, Behar described the Trump-backed candidate as a “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde at this point.”
“Voting for the slick person on TV is like voting for me,” she added. “Don’t vote for me for politics. I know how to work on television. That doesn’t mean that’s the same thing. We had Donald Trump, now we have Oz, and then we have Kari Lake. Don’t be fooled by that.”
Piggybacking on Behar’s comments, Hostin blasted Oz for his interactions with Fetterman during the Tuesday night debate. At the same time, she suggested that Oz’s performance could end up helping the Democrats in the end.
“He obviously was bullying him and, you know, I don't think the people of Pennsylvania or the people in general like that because Fetterman raised $1 million after that debate,” she stated.
“And I think it takes real courage to show that you have been knocked down. It takes real bravery to allow people to see your weakness, right?” Hostin added as the audience applauded. “And we know that Fetterman's cognitive abilities have not been compromised. It's about expression that has been compromised. Aphasia, exactly.”
Conservative co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin chimed in with a “different takeaway” from the debate, saying her issue wasn’t so much with Fetterman’s halted speech as he recovers from his stroke. Instead, she pointed to the Democrat appearing not to have a solid grasp on certain policy positions—most notably fracking.
Whoopi Goldberg, however, was quick to justify Fetterman’s contradictory stance.
“That might be because his position on fracking has twinkled a bit, which happens in that state and when you live in that state,” she proclaimed. “You know, that's something you're going to have to come to terms with because it's not going anywhere, you know?”
Goldberg continued: “But, you know, Fetterman is very clear. He's about codifying Roe v. Wade. He supports raising minimum wage, and he's supporting fracking which, you know, doesn't really make everybody happy. But there are some things that he is very clear on and, you know it is Pennsylvania, and I know that Dr. Oz doesn't know jack about Pennsylvania!”
