Sunny Hostin Badgers Abby Huntsman to Admit Pete Hegseth Is Unqualified to Be Defense Secretary, Forcing Joy Behar to Intervene

The View co-host Sunny Hostin repeatedly pushed guest panelist Abby Huntsman to admit that her one-time Fox News co-worker Pete Hegseth is unqualified to be Secretary of Defense on Tuesday, forcing Joy Behar to step in and ask, “Do you want me to save you from Sunny?”

It all started as The View crew discussed remarks by President Donald Trump on Monday, during which he said Hegseth was “the first” person in his administration to push for offensive action against Iran.

“Pete, I think you were the first one to speak up,” Trump said during an event in Memphis, TN. “And you said, ‘Let’s do it, because you can’t let them have a nuclear weapon.'”

Some have seen Trump’s remarks as placing blame and a sign of a possible shakeup in Trump’s Pentagon, including Huntsman, who hosted Fox & Friends with Hegseth when both were employed by Fox News.

“He is toast,” she told fellow View panelists Hostin, Behar, Whoopi Goldberg, and Sara Haines. “If this doesn’t go well, this is not good for Pete Hegseth.”

When Hostin pointed out that Huntsman is acquainted with Hegseth, she called him a “smart guy” and “a perfect Fox News host.”

“Is he a perfect secretary of defense?” Hostin interjected.

When Huntsman did not answer the question directly, Hostin asked again, “Do you think he’s qualified to be the secretary of defense?”

As Huntsman attempted to dance around the question, Hostin asked three more times, with Behar stepping in to ask, “Do you want me to save you from Sunny?”

When Hostin interrupted Hunstman to ask the question a sixth time, Haines tried to put the matter to rest, saying, “I’ll go ahead and say Pete Hegseth is not qualified to run the Department of Defense.”

Read the exchange here:

ABBY HUNTSMAN: This is so classic Trump. He does not like to take accountability for anything.

BEHAR: Unless it’s going well. Then he loves it.

HUNTSMAN: Look at Kristi Noem. No, so he’s thinking if the oil prices don’t go down, and it looks bad in midterms. Pete looks at this as praise. He’s toast. If this doesn’t go well, this is not good for Pete Hegseth.

SUNNY HOSTIN: Now, you know Pete.

HUNTSMAN: I know Pete. I worked on a show with Pete and I praise him for his service and he’s a smart guy and was a perfect Fox News host.

HOSTIN: Is he a perfect secretary of defense?

HUNTSMAN: For one, I would say the memes, the cartoons, and movie memes have gotta stop. When you come from a military family, this is not a game. They talk about it with the high-fives, Trump in the rally saying, “Should we keep going? Should we keep going?” Coming from a military family it’s — there are people that are dying, that are losing their lives.

HOSTIN: Do you think he’s qualified to be the secretary of defense?

HUNTSMAN: I don’t hope for the demise of this country and the people who are in charge right now, so I pray for the best. I am very concerned because the way they are playing this game-

HOSTIN: Do you think he’s qualified to be the secretary of defense?

HUNTSMAN: The way they’re playing this game is like checkers when the rest of the world is playing chess.

WHOOPI GOLDBERG: Bad checkers.

HUNTSMAN: I’m concerned because in the Middle East, we’re very good at getting into wars and very bad of getting out of wars. It’s like the snake that the head gets cut off, and the body keeps moving.

HOSTIN: Do you think he’s qualified to be the secretary of defense?

HUNTSMAN: You know what? I’m very concerned.

JOY BEHAR: Do you want me to save you from Sunny?

HUNTSMAN: No, this is what I’ll say about cabinets. Presidents usually pick people in these roles that are experts at what they do.

GOLDBERG: Except this time.

HUNTSMAN: Trump picks people he knows will agree with him and do what he says. He will wake up every day working for Trump, “Am I going to get fired today?”

HOSTIN: So you’re saying Pete Hegseth is probably not —

SARA HAINES: I’ll go ahead and say Pete Hegseth is not qualified to run the Department of Defense.

[applause]

Watch above via ABC.

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