The liberal ladies of ABC’s The View were up in arms Wednesday over President Trump accusing former President Obama of “treason” in regard to the Russia Collusion Hoax. Co-host Joy Behar went so far as to demand that Trump be sued for “defamation” over it. An interesting demand considering that The View had accused Trump of treason several times over the years (particularly Behar herself).
“I have a question for the lawyer. Why can't Obama sue Trump for defamation of character?” she asked co-host Sunny Hostin. Faux conservative Alyssa Farah Griffin interjected to note that Obama was a “public figure.” “He's accusing him of treason,” Behar decried.
“Well, I got to tell you the standard is certainly higher for defamation,” Hostin admitted. But she did take issue with the allegation citing one of the possible punishments for the crime: “But accusing someone of treason which, if you're found guilty of that, one of the penalties could be death!”
Interestingly, The View had been a home to several allegations of treason against Trump.
About a month before the 2024 presidential election, Behar not only accused Trump of treason but also Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC):
And by the way, the Kremlin has confirmed that he sent the COVID tests to the Kremlin when Americans were in need of the COVID tests. Now, that is – I believe – that is the definition of a traitor. Am I wrong? … [Russian President Vladimir Putin] wants Trump to win, that's why. That’s why a lot of stuff you see online is coming from Russia. By the way, does this make Lindsey Graham, Marco Rubio at least step up to the plate and say maybe we're dealing with a traitor and maybe that makes us traitors?
In January 2023, Behar accused Trump of treason for allegedly keeping classified documents in his Florida home:
FARAH GRIFFIN: And I have worries – By the way, Mar-a-Lago was infiltrated by Chinese spies. What Trump did, he should be indicted for. I just think the case Merrick Garland has to make is much harder because of this.
BEHAR: Isn’t there treason in here somewhere?
And in 2021, she and Hostin both accused Trump of treason for his actions following the 2020 election:
HOSTIN: … steal an election, and to just really I think sabotage our democracy. That is not only criminal. It is psychotic in a sense, and --
BEHAR: It's treasonous. It's treason.
HOSTIN: It's treasonous. It is treasonous.
Now joy, are you sure you want defamation sues over accusations of treason?
Back on Wednesday, moderator Whoopi Goldberg argued that it didn’t matter if Obama committed treason because it was all completely legal. Of course, to make that leap she relied on the gross mischaracterization of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity:
A sitting president just accused a former president of treason. Now, do people realize how serious an allegation this is and for me, didn't the Supreme Court under the guidance of this President say that presidents have immunity? So, that would mean that nothing Obama did, because you didn't say no -- that only you have immunity, you said presidents. So, this means you have no right to try to take him to court, because he did what he did as president.
“So how is that work? Is it only you who is clear or are they all clear, in which case President Biden might be kicking some new stuff up to you too,” Goldberg warned Trump.
Behar responded by claiming that Trump was accusing Obama of treason because he was “jealous” of how well Obama could sing an Al Green song. “You know, the thing about him is that he's so jealous of Obama, because Obama is everything that he is not, trim, smart, handsome, happily married and can sing Al Green's song "Let's Stay Together" better than Al Green and Trump cannot stand it,” she proclaimed.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
ABC’s The View
July 23, 2025
11:04:42 a.m. Eastern(…)
WHOOPI GOLDBERG: A sitting president just accused a former president of treason. Now, do people realize how serious an allegation this is and for me, didn't the Supreme Court under the guidance of this President say that presidents have immunity? So, that would mean that nothing Obama did, because you didn't say no -- that only you have immunity, you said presidents. So, this means you have no right to try to take him to court, because he did what he did as president.
So how is that work? Is it only you who is clear or are they all clear, in which case President Biden might be kicking some new stuff up to you too, because if you say nobody has immunity or everybody -- you have to decide which way you're going to go, but what do you think of all this?
JOY BEHAR: First of all, who tried to overthrow the government on January 6th?
GOLDBERG: Wait, let me think. Who?
BEHAR: Who was that again? That was not Obama. Okay. You know, the thing about him is that he's so jealous of Obama, because Obama is everything that he is not, trim.
SUNNY HOSTIN: Yes.
BEHAR: Smart. Handsome.
HOSTIN: Happily married.
BEHAR: Happily married and can sing Al Green's song "Let's Stay Together" better than Al Green and Trump cannot stand it. Jealousy is not a pretty – green is not a good color.
HOSTIN: I agree with you on that.
(…)
11:09:02 a.m. Eastern
BEHAR: I have a question for the lawyer. Why can't Obama sue Trump for defamation of character?
[Applause]
HOSTIN: Well -
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: Public figure.
HOSTIN: Well, I got to tell you the standard is certainly higher for defamation because --
BEHAR: He's accusing him of treason.
HOSTIN: President Obama is a public figure.
But accusing someone of treason which, if you're found guilty of that, one of the penalties could be death!
BEHAR: Yeah.
HOSTIN: And so, it is very significant. But as Whoopi mentioned with the Supreme Court, now there's immunity all over the place for this president.
SARA HAINES: Everyone knows President Obama did nothing!
(…)