‘The View’ hosts taunt Nikki Haley to appear on show, defend race comments: ‘I’d be happy to chat with her’

“The View” put out an open invitation Friday to GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley to appear on the program and defend her recent comments on racism, although one co-host suggested she would chicken out.

The hosts of the liberal ABC talk show were among the many figures who balked this week at Haley’s recent remark that the United States has never been a racist country. Ana Navarro said Haley should get airtime just like Kamala Harris after the vice president appeared on the show for a friendly interview this week.

“I think we should give her the same air time we gave Kamala Harris. If she wants to come here and she wants to explain to us how America has never been racist, we welcome her,” Navarro said.

“Oh, I’d be happy to chat with her,” co-host Sunny Hostin chimed in.

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Joy Behar on “The View” on January 19, 2024. (The View / Screenshot)

Co-host Joy Behar wrly added, “She’s not coming. I bet she doesn’t come here.”

Navarro added the invitation was open to the White House hopeful. In what was hardly a ringing endorsement, Behar said Haley wasn’t an existential threat” to democracy the way she perceived former President Trump, who is coming off a dominant win in the Iowa caucuses and is the clear frontrunner for the 202 nomination.

Co-host Sara Haines also said Haley was the “lesser evil” compared to former President Trump.

It was unclear if the woman-centered show had invited Haley, the only woman running for president in the GOP field, since she announced her White House bid last year. Spokespersons for the Haley campaign and “The View” didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. 

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Nikki Haley, former ambassador to the United Nations and 2024 Republican presidential candidate, during a campaign event in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024. (Adam Glanzman/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Earlier in the segment, the hosts debated whether it was harmful to the overall mission of stopping Trump to be sharply critical of Haley. Co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin, the ex-Trump aide who is now one of his sharpest critics, took issue with Haley’s remarks on race, but she said she was “praying” Haley was the nominee since she wouldn’t harm the country as president.

Haines called Haley a “lesser evil” and suggested it was wrongheaded for her liberal co-hosts to rip her and be fatalistic about Trump being the inevitable nominee.

“Should we just let her say America has never been a racist country?” Navarro asked.

“No. Inaccuracies, misstating the Civil War? Come for her,” Haines said. But at this table, it’s often been talked about that Trump’s going to win anyway… She is a lesser evil to me.”

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Haley is hoping for a strong finish in New Hampshire’s primary next week to halt Trump’s momentum after his decisive victory in Iowa.