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The View in Review

With Carly Fiorina on Hand, The View Has a Productive Discussion About the State of the GOP

It's a miracle!
posted by Claire Spellberg Lustig
Monday 9/20/2021 at 12:15PM EDT
  • Former GOP presidential candidate Carly Fiorina brought a much-needed sense of calm to The View this morning. (Photo: ABC)
    Former GOP presidential candidate Carly Fiorina brought a much-needed sense of calm to The View this morning. (Photo: ABC)

    It's been a while since The View co-hosts had a productive discussion about the state of the GOP, but it finally happened Monday morning thanks to a cool, calm, and collected appearance from Carly Fiorina. In a segment unlike anything we saw during the Meghan McCain era, Fiorina, a former Republican presidential candidate and the show's third guest co-host of the season, spoke freely about her disappointment in her party and the damage former President Trump has done to its reputation. "This party has changed a lot, and unless it dumps Trump, this party is not a party that I can feel proud of," she said, earning a round of applause from the audience.

    Viewers expecting The View to break down the Emmy Awards first-thing this morning were in for a surprise as moderator Whoopi Goldberg opened the show with a Hot Topic about the Justice for J6 rally at the U.S. Capitol on Saturday. "It's a reminder of the identity crisis, I think, that the GOP may be having right now," said Goldberg. "Carly, you ran as a Republican in 2016. Do you even recognize the party now?"

    "It's very sad," replied Fiorina. "Way back in 2015, I was saying that Trump lacked both character and competence. Sadly, I was right." The former presidential candidate added that "the people who speak up — and there are too few of us — the people who speak up get pilloried and criticized, or they retire," a reality that has forced her to question her place in the Republican Party.

    Sara Haines then asked Fiorina whether "getting rid of Trump" is truly possible, to which the guest co-host insisted "we need more of The View and less of politics as usual." Added Fiorina, "Most Americans honestly are sick of the toxicity. They're sick of fighting about everything. Most Americans don't agree on everything, but they agree on the most important things."

    Fiorina went on to say that, despite the low turnout at the rally, she's concerned about the future of the GOP. "I am not optimistic right now about where the energy in the party is because I see what happens to people like Liz Cheney or Adam Kinzinger, and I see who's retiring," she said. "The big Trump supporters are the ones hanging in there and speaking the loudest."

    "The loudest voices get the most attention. It doesn't mean they're the most voices, it just means they're the loudest. So, people do need to speak up," continued Fiorina. "If all you care about is keeping your job — if all you care about is running and winning, running and winning, running and winning, and not sticking to principle and making some progress, then you're going to keep your head down instead of speaking up when you should."

    Fiorina will return tomorrow, Tuesday, September 21, for her second day as guest co-host. Her appearance kicks off an exciting week for The View: on Friday, September 24, the co-hosts will sit down with Vice President Kamala Harris for her first in-studio talk show appearance since being sworn into office in January.

    Claire Spellberg Lustig is the Senior Editor at Primetimer and a scholar of The View. Follow her on Twitter at @c_spellberg.

    TOPICS: Carly Fiorina, The View, Sara Haines, Sunny Hostin, Whoopi Goldberg


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