Joy Behar Slams Trump’s Suggestion of Removing Journalists: ‘Who’s Karoline Leavitt Going to Lie to?’

Tom DuranteOct 15th, 2025, 12:56 pm

Joy Behar and the other panelists at The View tore into Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and President Donald Trump over a proposed new press policy at the Pentagon after the president floated the notion that the White House could follow suit.

The View took turns slamming Hegseth on Wednesday’s show, with Behar saying that if Hegseth wanted to contain leaks in his department, he should start by looking within.

“It’s kind of ironic, because Hegseth is the leaker in chief,” she said.

Sara Haines agreed, adding: “Signalgate.”

But when it came to Trump’s remarks on Wednesday that he has the option of moving reporters at the White House “across the street,” Behar couldn’t resist a joke at his press secretary’s expense.

“And by the way, if they get rid of all the press, who is Karoline Leavitt going to lie to?” she asked facetiously.

Read the conversation here:

WHOOPI GOLDBERG: Well, so, my question is, are Americans going to be OK with these kinds of restrictions on the media?

SARA HAINES: No.

GOLDBERG: I’m sorry, what?

AUDIENCE: NO!

HAINES: Freedom of the press is not a right or left issue. It’s an American issue, which is why you’re seeing those networks, including Fox News, who don’t agree on much, coming together and in the name of that, saying, no, when the general said, you don’t have people spoon-food the news, that’s not journalism. It’s not. It’s propaganda. And that is unique to autocratic societies. The irony here is I think their point in doing this was they want to stop the leaks. They want to stop the leaks. Well, when you take away —

GOLDBERG: Well, they should stop making the calls.

HAINES: When you take away the fourth estate, which is not an official branch of government, but just as important in its job to be accountable — sorry, to kind of spotlight transparency, also, to hold people accountable when they’re doing things. But this is not going to stop leaks. This is going to force those leaks inside the house. So, now, it will actually have the complete opposite ending.

JOY BEHAR: It’s kind of ironic, because Hegseth is the leaker in chief.

HAINES: Signalgate.

BEHAR: He’s the one who spilled the beans in Signalgate and possibly war plans and everything else.

HAINES: Yes!

BEHAR: And I think this is kind of a cover for him in a way. I think he’s a problem. He’s not qualified for the job. So, I think this is a cover-up for him. And by the way, if they get rid of all the press, who is Karoline Leavitt going to lie to?

ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: So I was.. I’ll let your joke sit and not step on it.

BEHAR: Let it rest.