Joy Behar found herself on defense Friday after her own co-hosts accused her of going soft on the vice president.
The tension came after “The View” replayed a clip of Vice President JD Vance ribbing the panel during a Thursday White House briefing, where he pointed to his Tuesday sit-down with the show as evidence he could handle tough talks over Iran. “Look, Joy Behar is way tougher than the Iranians, and she and I are best friends now,” Vance told reporters as seen on the video from “The View.”
Sunny Hostin reacted with disbelief on air. “We were more difficult to deal with than the Iranian government?” Hostin said. Behar brushed it off as a joke before defending her belief in reaching across the aisle. (RELATED: MTG Swats Away Joy Behar’s Attempt At Getting Her To Become Democrat)
That prompted Hostin to put the question to her directly. “But I want to know, why were you so in love with JD Vance?” Hostin asked. Behar shot back, “I wasn’t in love. I’m not in love with him, and I’m not in love with this administration.”
Ana Navarro argued Vance had walked in with a plan. She said he came “strategically prepared to disarm us with niceness” and told Behar the tactic landed on her but not on Navarro. Behar rejected that read and tied her approach to the show’s founder. “I respect the office. I’m a civilized human being, and when someone comes on my show, then you treat them like a human being,” Behar said, crediting the late Barbara Walters for the lesson.
Behar’s warmth had surfaced earlier too. She told the “Behind the Table” podcast that she does not view Vance as a bad guy and would find a 2028 race between him and Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom worth watching, according to Mediaite.
Vance had appeared on the program to promote his faith memoir, “Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith,” according to the Associated Press.