The View‘s Sunny Hostin had the patience of a saint Tuesday as co-hosts Meghan McCain and Abby Huntsman made repeated attempts to shout down her criticism of outgoing White House Chief of Staff John Kelly.
Kelly, a retired U.S. Marine Corps general, was pushed out by President Donald Trump and is expected to depart from his role early next year. The president’s efforts to replace Kelly with Nick Ayers fell through, however, leaving him without a Plan B and the White House scrambling to fill the position.
Huntsman said staffers might have a tough time finding a replacement, calling the chief of staff gig a “thankless job.”
“That’s the problem why people don’t want that job,” she began. “One day the person is perfect for [Trump], and then he tweets, ‘You’re fired, and you are a spineless, clueless flunky.’ It’s a thankless job, and you have to be a yes-man or yes-woman, when the job isn’t supposed to be that.”
“You serve to help the president and to be sort of the go-between between the staff and the people coming to his office and the president,” Huntsman added.
Hostin chimed in on the matter, saying she had high hopes for Kelly when he was first tapped for the position but said she felt he’d sullied his legacy by serving in the Trump administration.
“When Kelly was appointed, I’m thinking, you know, ‘He’s this four-star Marine general, he will be the adult in the room,’” said Hostin. “But it’s clear that they clashed, that Trump did not listen to him and, honestly, he came in with this wonderful reputation, and I think the administration tarnished that reputation.”
Huntsman begged to differ, saying she believed Kelly had enjoyed a “fabulous” reputation considering his career of service to the United States.
“So anyone that’s worked for President Trump has a bad reputation?” she asked, interrupting her fellow host.
“If I could finish what I was going to say, maybe you would hear me …,” Hostin shot back, before rattling off a list of Kelly’s misdeeds during his time in the White House. She pointed to the former homeland security secretary’s slandering of Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) and refusal to issue an apology, as well his support of Trump’s zero tolerance immigration policy that had children separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border.
“You’re talking about children,” McCain barged in. “He gave a child for our freedom — his son died in combat.”
Despite her co-host’s efforts to drown her out, Hostin pointed out that Kelly also came out in support of White House staff secretary Rob Porter amid domestic violence accusations and lauded Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee as an “honorable” man.
“So when I look at all of the things he did during the administration, that’s what I will remember him for. Especially when he disparaged a congresswoman,” she said, sparking applause from the audience.
The cheered criticism of Kelly didn’t sit well with McCain, however.
“I just think it’s weird to be clapping,” McCain, 34, said. “Whatever you think about his politics, he lost his son in combat for freedom, and again, clapping in that way, again, your call. Everyone can interpret him differently. I just think there are some things that precede politics, and losing a son and being part of a Gold Star family is one of those things.”
Watch more in the clip below.
