Sunny Hostin said Friday that former Vice President Joe Biden should choose a black woman as his running mate, claiming that black women will “have to risk their lives to vote.”
During a segment of ABC’s “The View,” Hostin argued that because black women were a strong voting bloc and Republicans opposed a large-scale move to vote by mail, the threat of coronavirus would put black women at increased risk come Election Day.
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Host Whoopi Goldberg began the segment by noting Biden’s promise to choose a female running mate, adding, “Senator Elizabeth Warren and former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams say they would be up for the gig. Now Sunny, how important is it that this choice is very specific for his campaign right now? Do you think it’s important for him to say who it is or to continue to check things out?”
Hostin said that she thought Biden’s choice would be very important, adding that she felt like the choice of running mate shouldn’t be an incentive but rather a “thank you.” (RELATED: Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin Try To Bait Lindsey Graham Into Blaming Trump For Coronavirus Response)
“It’s a thank you, and I think it should be a thank you to black women,” Hostin continued. “I think black women are going to have to carry the load in this election like they always do. We are the strongest voting base, and half of black women live in states where I think they are going to obstruct the vote. I think there won’t be mail-in voting. So that means that black women are going to have to risk their lives during this pandemic to vote. They’re going to have to bring their sons and their brothers and their fathers and risk their lives to vote.”
Hostin went on to say that black women were responsible for bringing Biden’s campaign back to life after several dismal early showings. “You know, we’ve dragged this — Joe Biden’s campaign really out of the grave in many — in a sense in South Carolina, and we’ve earned that spot with our loyalty for decades, and so in my view, he should pick a black woman,” Hostin explained.
Hostin concluded that, while she felt that Abrams might be a good choice, someone who had actually held office might be a better option. “I think Kamala Harris is an excellent, excellent choice, but I think it should go to a black woman with experience,” she said.