The mood was somber on the Thursday edition of ABC’s The View. In addition to its being the 9/11 episode, the cast also had to react to the politically motivated assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Dressed mostly in black and other respectful colors, the ladies said all right things. But it sort of rang hollow given their previous lies about Kirk inviting neo-Nazis to a TurningPoint USA event; an accusation that saw them threatened with a defamation suit.
Alyssa Farah Griffin, one of the purported conservatives on the show, started the discussion by focusing on Kirk’s family:
I didn't know him well, but I've known him over the years. And today my heart breaks for his young wife, Erika, their two kids. I think we have a picture he posted recently of his family. Listen, regardless of your politics, we have got to get to a place in this country where we see people we disagree with not as our enemies but as fellow Americans with different viewpoints that we are willing to engage.
“I hope it doesn't have a chilling effect whether you're left or right on your ability to speak your mind,” Farah Griffin feared. Co-host Joy Behar chimed in to back her up: “Well, that's our bread and butter here. So, of course, it's very important. I agree with everything you say.”
Independent co-host Sara Haines followed up with praise for how Kirk would go to college campuses to engage with student who disagreed with him:
We don't all align with his views, what I deeply aligned with, when we stop talking, that's when things get bad. The irony of a man who would go across the country to college campuses. That’s the pinnacle of thought differences. Its where you're supposed to have conversations – Would go and his series was called "Prove me wrong." He would talk to people openly who disagreed. It's what we try to exemplify every day and say this is what we need more of.
“So, the irony of being violently killed while saying those words of what we need more of in this country, I know all of us agree on that part as there's never a place for political violence,” Haines added.
Even co-host Sunny Hostin was able to find the strength to rein herself in:
This man was 31 years old with two children, I think ages one and three, a family man, a wife. Now, all these children will grow up without their father. This woman will grow up, you know, grow old without her husband. I just -- this country -- there's just no place for this kind of violence in this country. I am heartbroken over it. I cannot believe that someone would kill another person because they were speaking their beliefs. You know, this is antithetical to who we are as Americans.
“The First Amendment is the first amendment for a reason. We should be able to voice whatever opinions we have,” she lamented.
Behar chimed in again to note that she lived through the 1960s, during a very fraught period of American history filled with political assassinations. “You know, I'd like to be positive about it. I think we did get out of it. The country survived it. We got better. I think we will again. We're having a traumatic period right now,” she tried to give comfort.
Following their 9/11 segment, moderator Whoopi Goldberg attempted to marry the two subjects by pushing for America to show the same kind of post-9/11 unity for Kirk’s assassination.
“[I]t goes to show that when we put our minds to it, we did figure out what to do. We can figure out what to do…These things are not outside of our reach. And we have to get back to that,” she pleaded. “These are things we cannot forget that we actually have the ability to do. If we do forget it, I don't know what will become of the country. My fingers are crossed. I'm betting on human beings.”
But The View’s niceties rang a little hollow. In July 2022, Goldberg erroneously claimed Kirk “invited” neo-Nazis into a TurningPoint USA event in Florida. Two days later, The View had to issue a formal on-air apology after Kirk’s organization threatened to file a defamation suit against them.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
ABC’s The View
September 11, 2025
11:03:42 a.m. Eastern(…)
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: I didn't know him well, but I've known him over the years. And today my heart breaks for his young wife, Erika, their two kids. I think we have a picture he posted recently of his family. Listen, regardless of your politics, we have got to get to a place in this country where we see people we disagree with not as our enemies but as fellow Americans with different viewpoints that we are willing to engage.
And for people who are unfamiliar with Charlie Kirk, I was an incredible – even saying “was” just feels weird today -- but an incredible, influential young activist on the right. He started and organization, Turning Point USA, has over a quarter million members nationwide, they're on over 3,000 college campuses. And this is going to hit young Republicans really hard, because he made them feel like when they were the lone conservative voice on campus or one of the only Republicans, it was okay to speak up and say their viewpoints. And that is a feeling that is going to be felt really deeply.
I hope it doesn't have a chilling effect whether you're left or right on your ability to speak your mind. I know the one thing we all agree about on this table, we all share our viewpoints, and we should be able to do that without fear.
JOY BEHAR: Well, that's our bread and butter here. So, of course, it's very important. I agree with everything you say.
SARA HAINES: We don't all align with his views, what I deeply aligned with, when we stop talking, that's when things get bad. The irony of a man who would go across the country to college campuses. That’s the pinnacle of thought differences. Its where you're supposed to have conversations – Would go and his series was called "Prove me wrong." He would talk to people openly who disagreed. It's what we try to exemplify every day and say this is what we need more of.
So, the irony of being violently killed while saying those words of what we need more of in this country, I know all of us agree on that part as there's never a place for political violence.
SUNNY HOSTIN: That's the thing. This man was 31 years old with two children, I think ages one and three, a family man, a wife. Now, all these children will grow up without their father. This woman will grow up, you know, grow old without her husband.
I just -- this country -- there's just no place for this kind of violence in this country. I am heartbroken over it. I cannot believe that someone would kill another person because they were speaking their beliefs. You know, this is antithetical to who we are as Americans. The First Amendment is the first amendment for a reason. We should be able to voice whatever opinions we have.
BEHAR: This particular political climate that we're in is not unfamiliar to me, being of the age that I'm at. In 1963, Medgar Evers was assassinated. In 1963, JFK was assassinated. In 1965, Malcolm X was assassinated. In 1968, Martin Luther King was assassinated. And in 1968, Robert Kennedy was assassinated.
And we lived through all of that. It was a turbulent time. I was very young. I think it's one of the reasons I got married so young, to tell you the truth. It was such a scary time, you kind of clung to each other, you know. You know, I'd like to be positive about it. I think we did get out of it. The country survived it. We got better. I think we will again. We're having a traumatic period right now.
(…)
11:23:02 a.m. Eastern
WHOOPI GOLDBERG: And it was -- it was extraordinary. But it just -- it goes to show that when we put our minds to it, we did figure out what to do. We can figure out what to do. And, you know, it doesn't always last, but we did it during the pandemic. People came together, called and applauded. These things are not outside of our reach. And we have to get back to that. We have to get back to –
Listen, whatever your politics are, I still got to get you up in the elevator because this is the building I'm working in. Whatever your politics are, you're the teacher, and I still have to hear what you have to say because I have put my kids in your hands.
These are things we cannot forget that we actually have the ability to do. If we do forget it, I don't know what will become of the country. My fingers are crossed. I'm betting on human beings.
We'll be right back.