It’s no secret that the co-hosts of The View are strongly in favor of people taking serious precautions when it comes to COVID-19. The women called out Dr. Oz during a hot topics discussion on Wednesday December 1, after the medical TV personality gave an interview to Fox’s Sean Hannity, where he criticized lockdowns. The women pointed out the Senate hopeful’s past controversial statements about reopening schools amid the pandemic.
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— The View (@TheView) December 1, 2021
In the clip from the Hannity interview, Dr. Oz, who’s running for senator in Pennsylvania, he spoke out against shutdowns amid the pandemic. “Remember the phrase ‘two weeks to flatten the curve?’ That metastasized into this incredible authoritarianism overreaching that did not necessarily make us safer. Remember they closed the parks, they shamed people about beaches. Now they’re threatening the same overreach with the omicron that you were just talking about. I think those choices should be yours—the American people’s,” the 61-year-old TV personality said.
After the clip ended, Joy Behar, 79, seemed shocked. “What happened to him? He’s gone over to the dark side,” she said. Sunny Hostin, 53, brought up Dr. Oz’s past comments about opening schools during the pandemic and mentioned that the mortality rate could be 2 to 3 percent. “Any, you know, any life is a life lost, but to get every child back into a school where they’re being educated and fed and making the most of their lives, with the theoretical risk of the backside — that might be a tradeoff some folks would consider,” Dr. Oz said during an April 2020 interview with Hannity. After the backlash, he apologized and said he “misspoke.” Sunny brought up the comments to show she was against his campaign and COVID stance. “You’re willing to sacrifice the lives of our children? Was he willing to sacrifice the lives of his children and his grandchildren?” she said.
Joy noted that while she was in shock over his stance, she did have a personal relationship with him, but mentioned that she felt like his politics were out of hand. “He’s very personally a doll. This is some political aspiration that he has that must be controlled,” she said, while Whoopi Goldberg, 66, mentioned that regardless of their relationship, she was against his campaign. “Kids going back to school deserve to be safe, and if you as a doctor and physician can’t see that, then you’re not somebody I want to vote for. No matter how much I like you,” she said.