Media top headlines September 15
In media news today, reporters and Democrats defend Gen. Milley reportedly contacting China's top general with concerns about Trump, MSNBC's Joy Reid addresses Nicki Minaj Twitter spat over vaccines, and Jimmy Kimmel mocks Floridians who died of coronavirus
The four liberal co-hosts of ABC's "The View" clashed Wednesday after two of them agreed that the alleged phone calls between Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley and his Chinese counterpart amounted to "treason."
Revelations about the phone calls, allegedly made during the final months of former President Donald Trump's administration, came as part of a new book by The Washington Post's Bob Woodward and Robert Costa.
According to the book, Milley made the two calls, unbeknownst to Trump, to Gen. Li Zuocheng of the People’s Liberation Army to assure him that the U.S. was not planning an attack on China, and that if it were he would warn him in advance.
TRUMP DOUBTS REPORT OF MILLEY CALLING CHINESE GENERAL BUT SAYS IT'S ‘TREASON’ IF TRUE
The split came as co-hosts Sunny Hostin and Sara Haines slammed Milley for making the calls if he had, while Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar said they would have been justified.
"I think that you break command in that way. You are committing treason. You’re going outside of the chain of command," Hostin said after Goldberg asked for her thoughts on the alleged calls. "I worked for the government for many years and it is sacrosanct to go within the chain of command."
Hostin said she knew Milley's alleged actions were done to protect the U.S. from any wars breaking out, and that, according to her, Trump was capable of starting a nuclear war after losing the 2020 election.
"But I think there’s just no excuse for a silent coup, which I think that’s what that is," she added.
PUNDITS CONTINUE TO PRAISE MILLEY'S ALLEGED PHONE CALLS TO CHINA AS ‘COMMON SENSE’
Behar jumped in, disagreeing with Hostin and placing blame for the alleged calls purely on Trump.
"The whole time that Trump was president, I was home saying, please God make there be an adult who controls this lunatic. I was praying let there be somebody in the room who holds his arm back when he goes to that button," Behar said. "And God bless General Milley for straightening things out. I know that the chain of command is sacrosanct. I understand that. But this was an emergency. We had a certifiable nutcase in the White House."
Haines immediately responded to Behar, saying that she agreed with Hostin, but that she also agreed with Milley telling his subordinates to come to him first if there was any command dealing with nuclear weapons, calling it a "safety net."
"But to go to China is a problem to me … We don’t need to be going to people that are our adversaries," Haines added.
Behar attempted to downplay Milley's words, seemingly making them sound like a harmless heads-up to his Chinese counterpart, as she went back and forth with Haines in disagreement over the call.
"But he also said – this is the worst – pledged to alert him in the event of an attack. You can’t tell China we’re coming for you," Haines said, interrupting Behar. "We are united in that thing, and even if Trump's in charge, you go within. You go within our country."
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Behar attempted to say that Trump should have been removed by his cabinet through the 25th amendment, but was interrupted by Haines again playing devil's advocate and suggesting that Biden could be handled the same way by people who think he's being affected by senility, making him unable to make the right decisions.