The hosts of The View rarely all agree, but on Wednesday they were largely one voice in saying Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) had made a mistake in refusing to appear on Fox News.
Warren issued a scathing series of tweets Tuesday explaining why she declined a Fox News invitation to do a town hall. She called the top-rated cable network a "hate-for-profit racket that gives a megaphone to racists and conspiracists."
After the four ABC hosts on Wednesday found out in real time who former Rep. John Delaney (D., Md.) was and that he was running for president—Delaney said he would gladly take Warren's place on Fox—liberal host Sunny Hostin said Warren was being "very dismissive."
"It may be a minority opinion, but I think that it's being very dismissive of so many Americans for her not to go on Fox News," Hostin said, noting its strong ratings and praising journalists like Shepard Smith and Chris Wallace. "I think if you want to be the President of the United States, for everyone, then you need to speak to everyone."
Fellow liberal host Joy Behar said she agreed, dinging President Donald Trump for not going on MSNBC and CNN. Trump gives the vast majority of his television interviews to Fox News and Fox Business.
Conservative host Meghan McCain called Warren's decision "shortsighted on her part."
"If you can even change one mind in a Republican household, that to me would be worth it for Elizabeth Warren," she said. "You've got to go to spaces that are uncomfortable."
"If you can't face the Fox audience, you can't face the U.S.," host Whoopi Goldberg said. "It's that simple."
Warren fundraised off her criticism of Fox and said Democratic town halls legitimized the network to potential sponsors.
"Hate-for-profit works only if there's profit, so Fox News balances a mix of bigotry, racism, and outright lies with enough legit journalism to make the claim to advertisers that it's a reputable news outlet. It's all about dragging in ad money—big ad money," Warren wrote. "Fox News is struggling as more & more advertisers pull out of their hate-filled space. A Democratic town hall gives the Fox News sales team a way to tell potential sponsors it's safe to buy ads on Fox—no harm to their brand or reputation (spoiler: it's not)."
However, other Democratic presidential candidates like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D., Minn.) have appeared on Fox for town halls, and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D., N.Y.) and South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg are also scheduled for them.
Gillibrand defended her decision Wednesday to go on Fox, telling MSNBC, "I believe you need to meet voters where they are, and a lot of America happens to watch that network."
.@SenGillibrand on why she'll do a @foxnews town hall after @ewarren called it a "hate-for-profit" network and refused to appear.
"I believe you need to meet voters where they are, and a lot of America happens to watch that network." pic.twitter.com/T8bbuHx3HG
— David Rutz (@DavidRutz) May 15, 2019