‘It’s a Slippery Slope!’ View’s Sunny Hostin Clashes With Co-Hosts Over Voter ID

The View’s Sunny Hostin broke with her co-hosts in favor of voter ID requirements as she warned they are a “slippery slope” to blatant racism.

On Friday’s The View, the table debated the current push by President Donald Trump and some Republicans to pass the SAVE America Act, which would require a valid ID and proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections.

The legislation would also put new restrictions on mail-in voting. Critics on both sides of the aisle have argued the bill is too broad and would create a major hurdle for many voters ahead of the midterm elections.

Alyssa Farah Griffin and Ana Navarro both blasted the SAVE Act, but argued in favor of requiring ID to vote. Navarro said she lives in Florida, where it is required, and it’s a “non-issue.”

Hostin asked how many states require voter ID, saying she believed it was five. Griffin and Navarro informed her in unison that it is “36.”

Hostin argued broadly against voter ID laws, saying they remind her of past racist voter suppression efforts, like requiring Black people to guess the number of jelly beans in a jar during the Jim Crow era.

She said:

The reason I’m not in favor of the SAVE Act, in New York it’s not required to have any sort of ID to vote. I believe that it will disproportionately affect African Americans voters. I believe that in my soul and African Americans fought and died for the right to vote in this country. And I just — I think it’s a very slippery slope. If you know your history, it reminds me of having to count jelly beans in a jar. It reminds me of having to answer citizenship questions for Black people to vote and I am just not — I won’t support it.

Navarro pushed back, saying there’s a difference between supporting voter ID and Trump’s legislation.

“There’s a difference between Alyssa and I supporting voter ID requirements as opposed to supporting the SAVE Act. They are two different things,” she said.

“Yeah, that’s very different,” Sara Haines agreed.

“Because there’s a bunch of other stuff they’ve put in the SAVE Act that will make it much more difficult for everyone to vote,” Navarro added.

“That’s true,” Hostin said, not compromising on her voter ID stance. “I believe that it’s a slippery slope.”

Griffin argued the legislation and voter ID would likely affect “rural voters” more.

“But it’s only about 1% that don’t have some form of ID that would be needed to vote. It’s much smaller than it used to be and considering, like you say this all the time, Black women are the most educated demographic,” Griffin said.

“That’s true,” Hostin agreed.

Black women have IDs, and they’re showing up,” Griffin continued.

“That part is true,” Hostin said, not conceding on any other points.

“I don’t believe this is something — honestly, I think it would honestly be rural Americans who don’t have, you know, passports,” Griffin added.

“A lot of them are MAGA,” Joy Behar noted.

“That’s my point. The SAVE America Act is bizarre,” Griffin said.

Watch above via ABC.

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