The View co-hosts came back from a week-long break with guns blazing during a day of Hot Topics. What started as a spirited discussion about Education Secretary Betsy DeVos‘ insistence that schools should reopen amid the COVID-19 pandemic, turned into a shouting match between Meghan McCain and Joy Behar that Whoopi Goldberg had to break up not once, but twice. Even cutting to commercial didn’t slow them down.
BETSY DEVOS SAYS KIDS MUST GET BACK TO SCHOOL: Education Secretary Betsy DeVos urged schools to reopen in September despite rising coronavirus cases across the country – the co-hosts discuss if it’s safe for children to return to the classroom. https://t.co/e4O1tWIGcT pic.twitter.com/6hIA0KdbAv
— The View (@TheView) July 13, 2020
Meghan, who is pregnant with her first child, said she’s a proponent of schools tentatively reopening in the fall, so that working parents won’t have to worry about childcare, and kids don’t regress. But, she said that Secretary DeVos needs “major media training.” That got a laugh from Joy, who later added that DeVos “sucks.” It started to get heated, though, when Joy told the ladies what’s “amusing her” today:
“This idea that the Republican party cares about education. They’ve been spending the last few decades defunding education and they think we’re going to believe this baloney they’re throwing at us now that they care about our children? Give me a break. Donald Trump only cares about getting reelected, full stop. That’s all he cares about.”
Meghan immediately shot back that it was “aggressive and incendiary” to say that Republicans as a whole don’t care about kids. “To sit here and say Republicans don’t care about education or children is just ridiculous,” she said. “Why do they keep defunding it? Every time I turn around it’s less money,” Joy argued. “I was a teacher, I know what I’m talking about, okay Meghan?” The back and forth continued, with Meghan saying that she was sick of trying to defend her fellow conservatives on The View.
“I think what’s exhausting is coming on this show every day and being told that Republicans don’t care about anything, we just want people to die, we want children not to be educated, nothing matters,” Meghan explained. “This is a crisis in this country right now. We all have to collectively come together and stop coming into this show every Monday after a break saying, ‘Oh it’s Republicans’ fault.’ It’s not, this is America’s problem.”
Whoopi cut to commercial as they continued to talk over each other, and the show returned with a new topic. But Joy interrupted to bring the focus back to her dispute with Meghan. “I want to make one thing clear. When I speak about Republicans, Meghan, I’m talking about the leadership in Congress, I’m not talking about the run-of-the-mill Republican voter,” said Joy. “So do not say that to me again, okay?”