Joy Behar Delights in Ted Cruz's 'Groveling' Apology to Tucker Carlson

Joy Behar was downright giddy Friday morning as she discussed Sen. Ted Cruz's attempt to walk back his remarks about the January 6 insurrection in an embarrassing appearance on Fox News' Tucker Carlson Tonight.

The fill-in moderator opened this morning's show with a clip of Cruz calling the insurrection "a violent terrorist attack," and it seemed that she was poised to actually praise the Republican senator — until she played a clip of Cruz groveling to Carlson just one day later. Over the course of the segment, Cruz apologized for his "sloppy" and "dumb" phrasing as the Fox News personality pushed him to renounce the entire statement, which Cruz eventually did.

"Oh, it's so fun when they fight with each other, isn't it?" said a gleeful Behar. "Here's my question: do we need to get an orthopedist on the show to explain to us how Ted Cruz is able to stand erect without a spine? How does he do that?"

Behar went on to say that Cruz wouldn't even defend his wife when Trump criticized him and blamed his daughters when he fled Texas during a severe winter storm, so his behavior on Tucker Carlson shouldn't come as a surprise. "But how many times can Cruz and other Republicans change their tune before the voters see them for who they are?" she asked. "We see him for who he is. When are the voters going to see it?"

TED CRUZ BACKTRACKS ON “TERRORIST ATTACK” COMMENT: After calling the assault on the Capitol a “violent terrorist attack,” Sen. Ted Cruz walked it back when pushed by Tucker Carlson and called his own words "sloppy" and "dumb” – #TheView panel weighs in. https://t.co/cVclFZQmjA pic.twitter.com/prRENlNAB1

— The View (@TheView) January 7, 2022

After Sunny Hostin called for Cruz to be "found accountable" for his role in the January 6 insurrection, she offered a grim (but accurate) analysis of the GOP. "The notion, now, that Tucker Carlson has so much power over an elected official tells you all you need to know about this country, about this party — the Republican Party — and how they really need to be held accountable for what happened on January 6," said the former prosecutor.

Guest co-host Yvette Nicole Brown closed out the discussion with an equally critical monologue about Cruz. "Ted Cruz knows that he can lie. The reason he knows this is because nobody watching Tucker will be watching C-Span to hear him say that they're terrorists, right?" she said. "So, he can say there's terrorists and make sure he's the good senator on record, in the Senate record, and then he can go on Tucker and say, 'No, I didn't mean it.'"

Elsewhere on The View... Ana Navarro revealed that she has tested positive for COVID-19, joining Whoopi Goldberg on The View's COVID list. "I'm feeling no symptoms. I'm feeling pretty good, so far," she said. "I did what the CDC recommends: the minute I felt a little tickle in my throat, I assumed I had it. I've been isolating with my dog and my thoughts and feelings, and I'm doing pretty good."

.@ananavarro shares that she has tested positive for a breakthrough case of COVID-19 and says she is "feeling pretty good so far": "I did what the CDC recommended — the minute I felt a little bit of a tickle in my throat, I assumed I had it and I've been isolating." pic.twitter.com/noPa44azzj

— The View (@TheView) January 7, 2022

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