Charlamagne Tha God calls out “The View” for pressuring guests to endorse politicians during tense interview
"Why do y'all need us to say this if we don't feel comfortable saying it?" he asked, bringing up the show's past interview with Killer Mike.
Charlamagne Tha God lived up to the title of his new book Get Honest or Die Lying in a tense live interview with the ladies of The View.
The Breakfast Club radio personality appeared Wednesday on the talk show to promote his new book, the name of which cohost Sunny Hostin used to segue into a difficult discussion about politics in America ahead of the presidential election.
"Since this book is all about having real conversations, let's get to it," Hostin said to her guest. "You have a massive platform. You and I have talked about this before. You endorsed Joe Biden back in 2020, but this time around, you said you're not going to endorse anybody. Charlamagne, now is not the time, in my opinion, to sit this one out."
ABC
Charlamagne tha God calls out Sunny Hostin on 'The View'Charlamagne quickly cut in, telling Hostin, "I didn't say that." He then clarified his stance: "I'm definitely voting in November. What I like to focus on is issues, not individuals."
Hostin asked, "But why not endorse? Why not endorse Biden?" which prompted a pointed response from the 45-year-old.
"Because if I'm sitting here telling my listeners that you have somebody out there who's a threat to democracy, somebody out there who said they want to suspend the constitution and overthrow the results of the election — you saw this person try to lead an attempted coup of this country — and I'm telling people that this guy is a threat to democracy," Charlamagne replied. "There's only two candidates out there. If I'm saying that about this individual, the choice is clear, right?"
Before the conversation continued, Charlamagne added another observation from a prior View interview with outspoken rapper Killer Mike when he was a guest on the show in February.
"I've seen y'all do this on The View before," explained Charlamagne. "Killer Mike literally sat here and said, 'hey, I supported Keisha Lance Bottoms, I supported Raphael Warnock, Jon Ossoff in Georgia.' He said you should support the person who the people I support are supporting. That's y'all's opportunity to say, 'clearly, he's talking about Biden.' Why do y'all need us to say this we don't feel comfortable saying it?"
Related: Sunny Hostin didn't know ex-View cohost Meghan McCain unfollowed her: 'Maybe she broke up with me'
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Moderator Whoopi Goldberg then stepped in to defend Hostin and the show, telling Charlamagne that "other folks need to hear" an endorsement, not necessarily the cohosts of the show.
"One of the things that we've been talking about is the fact that getting facts out through the media seems to be very difficult," Goldberg told him. "I feel like I just spewed some facts," he replied, to which Goldberg stressed that "we need you to do it on your show" instead.
"I think both candidates are trash, but I am going to vote in November and I'm going to vote in my best interest and who can preserve democracy," Charlamagne finished. "Would you rather I endorse an individual or endorse the fact that we need to go out here and protect democracy?"
ABC
The ladies of 'The View'For the last several presidential election cycles, The View has been a priority destination for high-profile politicians and pundits. Recently, the show has welcomed the likes of Liz Cheney, Tim Scott, Kamala Harris, and Hillary Clinton — with the latter pair both sounding the alarm over Donald Trump's potential reelection in November.
"We should all be scared," Harris warned viewers in January, while Clinton told the panel in November 2023 that Trump winning would be the "end of our country."
The View airs weekdays at 11 a.m. ET on ABC.
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