‘The View’ Hosts Say Melania Trump Is Scamming Voters With Pro-Abortion Rights Stance

Amanda Bell October 3, 2024, 12:21 pm

Joy Behar, Whoopi Goldberg, and Sunny Hostin on The View October 3 — ABC

As Melania Trump works to sell her new memoir, the cohosts of The View aren’t buying.

On Thursday’s (October 3) edition of the talk show, the cohosts discussed the latest headline-making excerpt from the former first lady’s book, in which she declared her defense of reproductive rights for women as “essential” and a “fundamental principle.”

Sara Haines offered the first (and least cynical) take on the stance, saying she “100%” agreed with what Trump said but argued that it might backfire on her husband’s campaign for those “single-issue voters” who show up to the polls solely to oppose abortion rights measures and candidates.

Joy Behar had a different read entirely, noting that reproductive rights are hugely popular among most Americans, which the Republicans do know. “I think they put her up to this. I think it’s a big scam,” she argued. “They put her out there as the face of the American population that wants to have abortion rights, and they figure, well, maybe she’ll talk him into it… I think that is just a big lie.”

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Alyssa Farah Griffin noted that Trump’s ostensible support of reproductive freedoms was in lockstep with other former first ladies who were pro-choice and Republican, but had her own theory as to why she was promoting this piece: “I think it’s strategic, even though it was written a while ago. I think they think this is going to give Republicans permission or independents, like, ‘Oh, I guess I could vote for him, because people who support abortion can.’ That’s also money. Who was going to buy this book outside of MAGA die-hards, but now it’s buzzing. Now we’re talking about it because she’s putting some stuff out there.”

Sunny Hostin went even further, arguing Trump’s excerpt is an effort to undermine her husband, Donald Trump, who has been cheering his success in appointing Supreme Court justices to overturn Roe V. Wade. “She does not want to be the first lady anymore,” Hostin said, adding, “I really think this is her way of undercutting his presidency because then she doesn’t have to deal with him anymore.” Still, she agreed with Griffin that this publicity is a ploy to make money off of book sales.

For Whoopi Goldberg, the problem all began “with a lie” when the appointed justices swore during confirmation hearings that they would not overturn Roe. “It’s been lie after lie after lie after lie. [Trump] continues to say, ‘Everybody wanted this.’ Nobody wanted this. You wanted it. You wanted to make a change because you thought it was going to put you over the top, and what you weren’t expecting was to get your behind kicked on this issue because everybody didn’t want it. Because half the population is female, and we know how our bodies work.”

Griffin later added that she also thinks Melania Trump’s new pro-choice position is “meant to be confusing,” explaining, “Donald Trump first said he was going to vote for the Florida [abortion rights] initiative, then he said he wasn’t going to. Now his wife is pro-abortion. I think he thinks he can win on the issue by being all over the place and being unclear so they might vote for him.”

The View, weekdays, 11 a.m. ET, ABC