Lindsey Granger Says Prosecuting Trump for Jan. 6 Will Only 'Ignite His Base to a Point of No Return'

On Wednesday morning, Lindsey Granger returned to The View full of contradictions when she both praised the "forward movement" of the bipartisan January 6 committee and suggested that prosecuting former President Donald Trump could have the effect of "igniting his base to a point of no return," handing him a victory in 2024.

As the co-hosts discussed the latest revelations from the January 6 committee hearings, Granger, who has become a frequent guest co-host in the past few weeks, thanked election workers Shaye Moss and Ruby Freeman for testifying about the threats they received after they were targeted by Trump.

"Going into the hearings, I was initially saying, 'What am I going to hear different than what I've already heard on the news media?'" she said. "And honestly, listening to Shaye Moss speak yesterday and all the other people who were everyday people that were affected by this, was disheartening, especially knowing they're doing public service jobs."

"I was very proud of the principled conservatives that stood up and spoke yesterday and chose to put oath of office over their allegiance to President Trump," she continued. "And I think that's an example and a hope of what the forward movement of our country will look like."

Through Granger said the hearings "brought to light exactly what happened" leading up to the insurrection at the Capitol, she feels a potential criminal prosecution is "looming over" the proceedings. "If they do this, and they don't win, and President Trump gets off and is criminally charged, you will have ignited his base to a point of no return, and he probably will win the next election," she said.

ELECTION WORKERS TESTIFY HOW TRUMP SUPPORTERS THREATENED THEM: #TheView panel reacts to Tuesday's Jan. 6 hearing where Georgia election workers Shaye Moss and her mother Ruby Freeman testified about how former Pres. Trump's attacks impacted their lives. https://t.co/cVclFZQmjA pic.twitter.com/pzumiApfjL

— The View (@TheView) June 22, 2022

In a not-so-surprising turn of events, the co-hosts quickly stepped in to shut down Granger's argument. "This is really not a partisan issue when it comes to Trump now," said Joy Behar. "This is an American issue. This is about preserving the Republic."

"He needs to be indicted, whether he bounces back or not," she continued. "Otherwise we have no laws in this country! We have chaos. You can't go on like that. You have to do something."

However, Behar did admit Granger "is right, in a certain way" about Trump being able to "bounce back" if he's prosecuted, as Arizona House speaker Rusty Bowers, who testified during Tuesday's hearing, said he would vote for Trump again.

After the commercial break, Granger again criticized the hearings, saying they are "tipping off the masses" to ongoing criminal and civil investigations.

"It's too late!" said Behar. "The texts are out there. The phone calls are out there. It's right in your face."

Granger then pivoted to former President Richard Nixon, saying that he was pardoned after the Watergate scandal. "The overall messaging was that it was bad for the country," she said. "I just don't want to make a decision that will be bad for the country."

"Not pursuing this would be bad for the country," fired back Whoopi Goldberg, earning a round of applause from the audience. "We're facing it now because we have people come into power saying, 'Well, I don't know if I'm going to OK this election.' So we're going to be surfing for a while. But if this doesn't happen, we're in deep doo doo."

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