Sunny Hostin claimed on Friday that it was China, not President Donald Trump, who had pushed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to the point of negotiating an end to the Korean War.
ABC’s “The View” opened on Friday talking about the historic talks ongoing between Kim and his South Korean counterpart, Moon Jae-in, noting that just a few short months ago, Kim had been threatening everyone within reach and working feverishly to secure a working missile that could reach the continental United States.
Joy Behar started the segment by wrongly identifying Moon as “from China.” Moon is the president of South Korea. She went on to suggest it was bizarre that Trump was taking credit for the peace talks. “He called him ‘Rocket Man,’ that was provocative. Is that what he’s claiming is his Nobel Prize?”
Paula Faris pointed out that President Moon had, in fact, thanked President Trump for “supporting the inter-Korean dialogue.”
She also laid out the timeline, saying that Trump had responded to North Korean threats and missile tests with a “war of words,” shows of military force, and sanctions — and in a few short months, Kim had dramatically changed course.
Sunny Hostin was not buying the “Trump effect,” and offered a different theory.
“This has very little to do with Trump, in my opinion, because, let’s face it, China is responsible for 90 percent of North Korea’s trade. And China never got on board before. This time, China got on board with the UN sanctions. These weren’t U.S. sanctions, they were UN sanctions. And I think when China gets on board and you’re a 90 percent trade partner, what do you do? You have to come to the table, so I think the kudos goes to China, not Trump.”
Hostin didn’t mention that Trump has for months negotiated with and pressured China to press North Korea to denuclearize. She also didn’t note that the U.S. was the driving force behind the December 2017 sanctions.
Sara Haines responded by saying “you can’t take Trump out of the equation.”
Kim met on Friday with South Korean President Moon, a meeting that is expected to set the stage for a late May or early June meeting between Kim and President Trump.