The View’s regular panelists got into a heated debate with guest co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck about the recent joint U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iran, which killed the country’s supreme leader and sparked a series of retaliatory attacks across the Middle East.
Hasselbeck, 48, previously served as a regular co-host from 2003 to 2013. She returned for Monday’s episode, during which Whoopi Goldberg opened the floor for her fellow hosts to discuss the president’s controversial military action in the region.
“I don’t think [Americans are] going to support it if the president of the United States does not make a case and clearly explain why we went in there and what the end game is,” Ana Navarro began.
Clarifying that she is not an Iran expert, she noted: “I am a regular American, and I can tell you my reaction, and it was mixed feelings.” She shared that when she initially heard about Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s death, she celebrated with Iranians around the world.
“But I also have such anxiety,” she admitted. “I am furious that we are going into war yet again without congressional approval. I am furious that the American people have not been brought into this. I am furious that we are doing this alone. Yes, Israel is part of it, but I look at Donald Trump, and I look at Netanyahu, and I see two leaders who I think politically, they benefit from war.”
Navarro went on to reference Trump’s capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January, saying: “I think he thought Venezuela was incredibly successful, and he’s been making comparisons with what happened in Venezuela with what’s happening in Iran. I don’t know Iran. I know Venezuela. Maduro was a pithy little third-world dictator. Venezuela is not Iran.
“We are seeing retaliation by the Iranians that the Venezuelans, they didn’t have the ability to do. So I think that he’s in love with this idea of being the conquerer and the emperor after Venezuela. He’s got this Napoleonic complex. He thinks he’s Alexander the Great. But Venezuela is not Iran.”
Hasselbeck, known for her conservative views, pushed back to outline what she sees as positives from the airstrikes. “We have 47 million Iranian women who now have a hope of freedom. That’s a good thing,” she said. “We have a disgusting, disgusting terrorist regime ended, and the people finally have hope to create their own nation again, so that’s the hope.”
She added her belief that the war has effectively cut off Iran’s oil supply to China, preventing:“China from having an absolute stronghold on the globe.”
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She added: “So this is a strategic move geopolitically that we may not fully understand, but I absolutely trust that this is best for our nation. We should be America first.”
Navarro interrupted to ask Hasselbeck what has led her to believe Iran’s regime has come to an end. Just as Sunny Hostin attempted to add her perspective, Hasselbeck cut in to respond to Navarro, causing the three hosts to speak over each other.
Goldberg was then forced to step in and remind them not to crosstalk before telling Hostin to continue.
“I was just going to say, the bottom line is that this is an illegal war. This is an unconstitutional war. Only Congress can wage war. That’s the first thing. I think we have to call a thing a thing. So this is an illegal war. This is a presidential war,” Hostin said.
“I think what Ana was about to say, ‘Did the regime really change?’ No. At this point, Donald Trump has come out and said, ‘I have some choices for who would lead, but they are dead now, too.’ And so now you have people that are in Iran picking their own people, so you don’t have a regime change, just like you don’t have a regime change in Venezuela,” she insisted.
Hostin further criticized Trump, saying: “I thought this was going to be the president of peace. I thought this president wanted to win a Nobel Peace Prize for peace. That is not what I’m seeing. I am not seeing America first. I think people that voted for Trump, I was not one of them — I think you were — those people wanted America first,” she added, pointing to Hasselbeck, who quietly laughed.
“I proudly voted for Trump,” Hasselbeck retorted, “because the alternative was not great, and we would absolutely be under the wrong power if the alternative came to be.”
Hasselbeck returned to The View this week as a replacement for Alyssa Farah Griffin, who is currently on maternity leave. Last week’s guest host, MAGA-favorite Savannah Chrisley, prompted outrage from viewers.
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