Alyssa Farah Griffin‘s enthusiasm was certainly curbed after Larry David beat up Elmo on live television. After The View co-host said (seriously) that she was “very angry” about the assault, Joy Behar bluntly reminded her that Elmo is a puppet.

David went viral following Thursday morning’s (Feb. 1) Today Show broadcast after he jokingly attacked the Sesame Street star, who stopped by the NBC studio along with his dad, Louie.

“I love Larry David but I’m very angry about this,” Griffin said on this morning’s episode of The View. “Listen, if he had done this on Jimmy Kimmel or a late-night show — fine. This is the morning. I grew up in a house where you would eat your cereal and you would watch GMA or The Today Show before you went to school.”

Somewhere in the midst of Griffin’s response to the debacle, Behar could be heard muttering, “Oh, stop it!”

Still, Griffin felt bad for Elmo — especially since social media users had already “trauma-dumped” on him earlier this week when he posted a mental health check-in on X (formerly known as Twitter).

“He’s not a person, Alyssa!” Behar fired back. “He’s a puppet!”

Later on in the segment, Griffin noted that Elmo’s father used the situation as a “teachable moment to say, ‘Ask permission before touching someone.'” However, this seemingly irked Behar even more.

“Alyssa, what planet are you on that you think that a six-year-old is watching The Today Show?” the comedian asked, to which Griffin replied, “Growing up, we always had the news on.”

Luckily for the former White House staffer, Sara Haines came to her defense.

“I’m with Alyssa on this,” Haines, who previously worked on GMA, said. “The morning brands — and coming from The Today Show and Good Morning America — the strength of those brands is they are wallpapered in homes everywhere.”

She continued, “So even if you’re not sitting and watching — if your mom says, ‘Elmo’s on,’ they come out right when Larry David strangles him!”

What a way to start the morning!

The View airs on weekdays at 11/10c on ABC.