The liberals are everything they accuse conservatives of being. During the Thursday edition of ABC’s The View, co-host Joy Behar went on an anti-immigrant tirade directed at billionaire Elon Musk. She viciously attacked him for being born in South Africa – something he had no choice in, accused him – without evidence – of being “pro-apartheid,” a “foreign agent” and “enemy of the United States,” and when she finally was told he was a naturalized citizen, she scoffed and wondered if he came in illegally.
And in an apparent attempt at heading off a possible defamation suit, she begged Musk not to sue her while weakly walking back only one of the baseless accusations.
Behar was coming unglued as she bloviated about how “Elon Musk kisses [President Donald Trump’s] butt and strokes his tiny ego or big ego, whatever it is.”
She apparently though people born elsewhere were beneath her and that only Americans born in the country should work for the government. She sneered as she decried how Musk “was not born in this country.”
And despite the fact that Musk was a child during and through the end of apartheid, Behar claimed it was something he embraced: “[He] was born under apartheid in South Africa, so has that mentality going on. He was pro-apartheid as I understand it!”
As NewsBusters explained after Behar bullied and mocked Musk’s four-year-old son, Musk was born on June 28, 1971 and apartheid ended on May 4, 1990, so Musk was still 18 at the time. And according to a book about Musk written by Walter Isaacson, Musk was anti-apartheid and stood in solidarity even in the face of death on the streets:
South Africa in the 1980s was a violent place, with machine-gun attacks and knife killings common. Once, when Elon and Kimbal got off a train on their way to an anti-apartheid music concert, they had to wade through a pool of blood next to a dead person with a knife still sticking out of his brain. For the rest of the evening, the blood on the soles of their sneakers made a sticky sound against the pavement.
When faux conservative Alyssa Farah Griffin noted that “now, he’s a naturalized citizen” (failing to note that he’s been one since 2002), Behar couldn’t believe it and suggested Musk came into the country illegally. “Oh, really?! How did he do that?! Did he come over legally?!” she bitterly demanded to know, and when she was told he had an H1B visa, Behar irrationally shouted: “He flew in!”
Sunny Hostin chimed in to spew the lie that Musk, “allegedly overstayed that visa.”
Behar’s anti-immigrant bigotry didn’t stop there. She went on to gnash her teeth about “this foreigner,” and accusing him of being a “foreign agent” and “enemy of the United States.”
As NewsBusters debunked after Star Jones made the same accusations against Musk (while filling in for Behar), Musk had been an American citizen since 2002 and had a security clearance dating back to the George W. Bush administration because of SpaceX’s contracts with NASA. Both of these proved that he was not a “foreign agent” and had been vetted by the federal government.
Farah Griffin proved to be as useless as ever as she suggested Behar wait “a little bit of time” so that he could actually become “an enemy of the United States.”
Behar apparently got a talking to during the commercial break, because when they came back she whined about “getting some flack because I said that Musk was pro-apartheid.” She refused to actually apologize but admitted that she had no evidence. And despite the facts, she suggested it was an unknown:
I was just going to say, now I'm getting some flack because I said that Musk was pro-apartheid. I don't really know for sure if he was. He grew up in that time when apartheid was full blown before the great Nelson Mandela fixed that. He was around at that time. But maybe he was, maybe he wasn't. He might have been a young guy too.
She then begged Musk not to sue her for defamation. “So don't be suing me, okay, Elon?” she said.
As they pivoted to another topic, Behar seemed to admit she knew she was telling a lie when she huffed: “They're allowed to say any lie they want but we have to be very strict. That's why this show is important.”
Admitting to knowing you were lying is a good way to check off “actual malice” in a defamation suit.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
ABC’s The View
February 27, 2025
11:04:28 a.m. Eastern(…)
JOY BEHAR: And Elon Musk kisses his [President Donald Trump’s] butt and strokes his tiny ego or big ego, whatever it is. And he doesn't get to do -- he can take a nap while the guy who was not born in this country, who was born under apartheid in South Africa, so has that mentality going on. He was pro-apartheid as I understand it! Right?
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: He is a naturalized citizen now.
BEHAR: He’s a naturalized citizen?
FARAH GRIFFIN: Now, he’s a naturalized citizen.
BEHAR: Oh, really?! How did he do that?! Did he come over legally?!
FARAH GRIFFIN: He had an H1B visa, I believe.
BEHAR: He flew in!
SUNNY HOSTIN: He allegedly overstayed that visa.
BEHAR: Yeah, but I think this is just perfectly wonderful for Trump. He can take a nap and let this foreigner, foreign agent, you know, an enemy of the United States do his job!
WHOOPI GOLDBERG: Anybody else?
[Applause]
FARAH GRIFFIN: I don’t like Elon, I wouldn’t go as far as to necessarily call him an enemy of the United States yet. Let’s give him a little bit of time.
BEHAR: Would you call him a friend?
FARAH GRIFFIN: This is my gripe with Elon Musk: There's a world in which having him for free advise the U.S. government could be an asset. This is somebody who made incredible investments with EVs, with Teslas, with SpaceX. I've toured it the guy with the guy at NASA. He’s a brilliant person when it comes to rocket science, engineering; not federal staffing. Like, we're using him in the dumbest possible way and the way he's least qualified to be used and it just doesn't really make sense to me.
(…)
11:15:09 a.m. Eastern
GOLDBERG: This is one of the reasons I love the show. Go ahead, Joy.
BEHAR: I was just going to say, now I'm getting some flack because I said that Musk was pro-apartheid. I don't really know for sure if he was. He grew up in that time when apartheid was full blown before the great Nelson Mandela fixed that. He was around at that time. But maybe he was, maybe he wasn't. He might have been a young guy too.
GOLDBERG: Might have been.
BEHAR: So don't be suing me, okay, Elon?
FARAH GRIFFIN: [Laughter]
BEHAR: They're allowed to say any lie they want but we have to be very strict. That's why this show is important.
(…)