Joy Behar says Republicans are too afraid to go on ‘The View’ — lies!
The ladies of “The View” think Republicans, particularly Republican men, are too afraid of them to come on the show. Seriously! Host Joy Behar made that case during a recent episode, take a look.
“I think that we should have more Republicans on the show, but they don’t wanna come on. They’re scared of us,” said Behar. “Marjorie Taylor Greene says that she finds Republican men afraid of powerful women — well, that may be true of all political persuasions. But if they would come on the show they could explain to us what they’re trying to do to this country.”
Are Republican men afraid to go on “The View”? I call BS on Behar’s claim.
No, I do not think Republicans would refuse to go on “The View” — in fact, I suspect that virtually every Republican commentator, pundit or politician of even basic talent or media savvy would relish the opportunity to mix things up with Joy and Sonny and Whoopi and all the rest. Conservatives love arguing with liberals. Look at how much fun Scott Jennings is having on CNN! Look at how much fun I’m having here on “Rising”!
That’s because members of the GOP aren’t looking for some safe space where their views are never challenged. They aren’t afraid of gladiatorial intellectual combat. Now sure, I’m painting with a broad brush, I’m sure there are some Republican political activists who wouldn’t enjoy the specific format of “The View,” or don’t have enough confidence in themselves — but come on, you know I’m right that the vast majority would love a chance to explain their thinking to Joy.
Get Ben Shapiro on there. Or Matt Walsh. Get Glenn Beck or Sean Hannity. Heck, get Scott Jennings! There are plenty of terrific ladies who would get the job done as well: Get “Rising’s” Amber Duke!
Now why am I talking about this at all? Well, for one thing, I think it’s important to dispel the idea that the two sides of the political spectrum don’t enjoy talking to each other. And I get why this notion endures — Americans are sharply divided on politics, and strongly disagree about which set of ideas — left-wing ideas, right-wing ideas, some mix of the two — would be best for the country.
Disagreement can be unpleasant for those who don’t engage in it as a job, sport or full-time hobby. It’s certainly not fun to argue all the time, and it’s not fun to go through life being constantly challenged. And unfortunately, too much of the media mirrors this sharp partisan split.
For a long time, we’ve had mainstream media, and conservative media. With conservative media, you get an explicitly rightwing perspective that is usually very favorable to President Trump, maybe with some token liberal perspective thrown in as an occasional foil. With mainstream media, you get faux neutrality that is actually very liberal, particularly on cultural issues, and then some token Republican in name only who is actually a Trump-hating ex member of the GOP.
The View mimics this dynamic, as the right-leaning member of the panel, Alyssa Farah Griffin, is extremely opposed to Trump — which is a perfectly valid opinion, but not one that represents the vast majority of conservatives. There are some exceptions, but over the course of my lifetime it has become increasingly rare to find real debate on cable news. It’s more about humoring the perspective of the host, and the perspective of the audience. Who’s learning anything from that?
The great thing about the rise of new media, social media, YouTube, etc., in my opinion, is that these platforms have brought back real debate. Now you have people arguing about politics, at great length, on the internet — and these people represent not just some stale two-party duopoly, but a range of ideological perspectives, from socialism to libertarianism to MAGA populism to abundance democracy and everything in between.
I’m proud that “Rising,” which was ahead of the curve when it launched seven years ago, has played a role in fostering these important debates, and continues in that fine tradition today. And if Joy Behar wants to familiarize herself with what happy debate looks like, she’s welcome to call me up for “The View.” I don’t love New York City, and as I’m reading the polls for the mayoral race I’m about to love it even less, but for you, Joy, I’d be happy to make the trip.
Robby Soave is co-host of The Hill’s commentary show “Rising” and a senior editor for Reason Magazine. This column is an edited transcription of his daily commentary.