Joy Behar found herself defending her treatment of Vice President JD Vance after her own co-hosts on “The View” suggested she had gone too easy on him.
The exchange came after the show replayed a clip of Vance joking about the panel during a White House briefing. Asked about difficult talks involving Iran, Vance pointed to his recent appearance on the ABC daytime program.
“Look, Joy Behar is way tougher than the Iranians, and she and I are best friends now,” Vance told reporters.
The remark drew a skeptical response from co-host Sunny Hostin.
“We were more difficult to deal with than the Iranian government?” Hostin asked.
Behar brushed off the comment as a joke, but Hostin pressed further.
“But I want to know, why were you so in love with JD Vance?” Hostin asked.
Behar rejected the characterization.
“I wasn’t in love. I’m not in love with him, and I’m not in love with this administration,” she replied.
Co-host Ana Navarro argued that Vance had arrived on the show with a clear strategy, saying he came “prepared to disarm us with niceness.” Navarro suggested the approach had worked on Behar, though not on her.
Behar dismissed the characterization, saying her tone reflected basic civility rather than political sympathy.
“I respect the office. I’m a civilized human being, and when someone comes on my show, then you treat them like a human being,” Behar said.
She credited the late Barbara Walters, who created “The View,” with teaching that approach to interviewing guests.
The on-air exchange followed comments Behar made earlier on the show’s “Behind the Table” podcast, where she said she does not believe Vance is “a bad guy” and suggested a possible 2028 matchup between Vance and California Gov. Gavin Newsom would be “interesting” because both men are intelligent.
Vance appeared on “The View” earlier in the week while promoting his faith memoir, “Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith.” During the interview, he sparred with the hosts over race, immigration, Trump administration policy and the future of the Republican Party.
The episode stood out because “The View” is generally hostile terrain for Trump administration officials and conservative guests. Behar, in particular, has spent years as one of the show’s most consistent critics of President Donald Trump.
Her willingness to describe Vance as personally decent, even while rejecting his politics, created an unusual moment of tension among the panel.
The exchange also highlighted a broader divide on the left over how to engage with ideological opponents. Some liberals argue that civility leads to more productive conversations while others insist that friendly treatment “normalizes” politicians they believe should be aggressively challenged.
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