“The View” co-host Joy Behar tore into Democratic Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema on Tuesday over the senator’s habit of crossing party lines.
The panel discussed Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s comments praising Sinema’s leadership and bipartisanship while introducing her at the University of Kentucky on Monday. Behar accused Sinema of earning praise from Republican leaders by turning against her own party.
“She’s not popular in her state. 55% of women find her unfavorable, men don’t like her, white voters don’t like her, Hispanic voters don’t like her, voters 50 and over don’t like her, younger voters don’t like her,” Behar said. “The only person who seems to like her is Mitch McConnell, and Mitch McConnell likes her because she works with him to obstruct the Democrats. Basically that’s how I see it, and you know, she’s not gonna be popular with the Republicans either, because she doesn’t have a religion as far as I can tell and she says she’s bisexual. They don’t like that.”
Sinema has joined with Republicans to oppose several key pieces of President Joe Biden’s agenda, including voting rights legislation and the Build Back Better bill.
“So, I think she has a problem. She does not help the Democrats, we don’t need her,” Behar continued. “We need a strong Democrat in Arizona, like [Democratic Arizona Sen.] Mark Kelly.”
Co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin came to Sinema’s defense, arguing that the U.S. is too politically divided and needs more politicians to work on a bipartisan basis. She argued that Sinema voted in favor of President Joe Biden’s legislative agenda over 90% of the time, indicating that she is not in fact working exclusively to benefit Republicans. (RELATED: ‘The View’ Co-Hosts Blame ‘DINOs’ In Congress For Roe V. Wade Overturn)
“I think she tries to work across the aisle because the policies are just undone when the Senate switches,” Griffin said, alluding to Sinema’s opposition to ending the filibuster.
Behar and co-host Sunny Hostin criticized Sinema for her calls to keep the filibuster, which requires 60 votes to pass most legislation, arguing that McConnell would nuke the filibuster if it served Republicans’ interests. Co-host Sara Haines complimented Sinema for working with Republicans, pointing out that lawmakers need to work across party lines to pass effective legislation.
Haines credited Sinema with passing legislation on guns, but Hostin pushed back, giving credit for the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act to Democratic Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy.
Co-host Whoopi Goldberg said McConnell and Sinema are both “full of it” and claimed that there is “no connection” between the parties nowadays.