Sunny Hostin and Whoopi Goldberg had a heated confrontation with South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott during a June 2023 episode of The View. Now, more than six months later, Hostin has revealed that she was left “insulted” after the Republican politician denied systemic racism on the hit daytime talk show.
On this morning’s episode of The View, the panel welcomed author Clay Cane, who wrote The Grift: The Downward Spiral of Black Republicans from the Party of Lincoln to the Cult of Trump.
So what is a grifter? Well, as Cane explained, “It’s a scheme. It’s not just being an opportunist. It’s here is a blueprint, a strategy that I’m gonna follow to get access to power — to say, ‘Maybe I could be a vice presidential pick. Maybe I could be on the Supreme Court. In what ways can I elevate myself even if he means hurting my community?'”
According to the political commentator, Scott — who recently endorsed Donald Trump for the 2024 election — fits the description because he’s “desperate for power.”
“What’s sad about Tim Scott is that I think he knows that if he called out the bigotry in his own party versus endorsing a bigot for president, he knows they would throw him out faster than Liz Cheney,” Cane said. “Being that he knows that, that’s why it’s a grift — because he knows better.”
Cane speculated that Scott would show Trump “the loyalty that [Mike] Pence didn’t” if he were chosen as the former president’s running mate.
“Let’s not forget he voted against the Voting Right Act, gutted the George Floyd Policing Act, came on this very show and denied systemic racism,” Cane reminded the hosts, while Hostin added that Scott “insulted” her when he appeared on The View.
“You came behind me and we both looked at him like he was crazy,” Hostin told Goldberg, who said, “He was a looney tune.”
During Scott’s visit to the Hot Topics table last year, Goldberg asked, “As a Black man and one of the [three] Black senators … how can you get your party to stop trying to stop the progression people are making?”
After he said he believes Republicans are doing a “fabulous job of making progress,” Hostin chimed in, “How is that?” When he attempted to list off his examples, Goldberg reminded him that she was the one who asked the initial question, before she stood up out of her seat and joined Hostin on the other side of the table, where she put her arm around her co-host and waited to hear his explanation.
Talk about awkward! It looks like Scott probably won’t be asked back to the talk show any time soon.
The View airs on weekdays at 11/10c on ABC.