Joy Behar and Ana Navarro disagreed over Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi telling U.S. Olympians to stay silent about China’s human rights abuses.
During a panel discussion on “The View” Friday, the co-hosts discussed Pelosi’s message to U.S. athletes to not speak out about Chinese human rights abuses during the Beijing Olympics. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Haley Calls Biden’s Diplomatic Olympics Boycott A ‘Joke’ Because China Doesn’t Care If He Shows Up)
“I would say to our athletes, ‘You are there to compete,” the speaker shared. “‘Do not risk incurring the anger of the Chinese government, because they are ruthless. I know there is a temptation on the part of some to speak out while they are there. I respect that, but I also worry about what the Chinese government might do.'”
Behar noted that U.S. diplomats were skipping the game all together, while Navarro said it was “unAmerican.”
“I don’t like this at all,” Navarro replied. “I don’t like that at all.” (RELATED: ‘A Nation Of Golden Retrievers’: Joy Behar Mocks Americans Who Didn’t Want Vaccine Until Free Donuts Were Involved)
“That’s so un-American,” she added. “It’s so un-American…you know, what China has done to the Uyghurs is something that should be protested. And if there’s any athlete that wants to have the courage to do that.”
“And I understand this is about athleticism,” Navarro continued. “But it’s also a huge world wide platform.”
The co-hosts debated whether the speaker was just trying to keep the athletes safe or silencing them.
“She’s being maternal I think,” Behar explained. “You know Nancy is momala. You know she’s always like ‘I think about the children. It’s for the children.’ She cares about the kids. That’s her.”
Navarro noted “inspirational” images from the Olympics in the past, mentioning two athletes who raised their hands in the air on the medal podium as she held up a fist. She said Jesse Owens and another name, which couldn’t be heard clearly, but sounded like Carlos.
Owens saluted the audience at the 1936 Olympics in Germany from the medal stand and didn’t raise his fist. John Carlos raised his fist in the air on the medal platform at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico.
She added that China “better not imprison one of our athletes.”
Guest co-star Star Jones said we are in the middle of a global pandemic and she doesn’t even want “us there.”