The women of The View stood united Monday morning after an 18-year-old gunman allegedly carried out a racist attack at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York on Saturday, killing 10 people and injuring three others. The co-hosts were clear that the gunman, who posted a white supremacist manifesto containing references to a conspiracy theory known as "the great replacement," must be held accountable, but Ana Navarro insisted others on the right deserve blame, as well, particularly Fox News' Tucker Carlson and Rep. Elise Stefanik, both of whom have discussed replacement theory. "It's time to name names and point fingers," said Navarro. "They need to be called out!"
Like her fellow co-hosts, Navarro insisted the mass shooting in Buffalo is "absolutely the same thing replaying itself over and over again" in the United States. "Now we can't go to the supermarket. We can't go to a theater. We can't go to a Walmart. We can't go to church," she said, before shifting the blame beyond the shooter. "Tucker Carlson mentioned the great replacement theory, or some version of that, more than 400 times on his show since 2016, according to the New York Times. Elise Stefanik bought ads on Facebook."
"And it's not just them. It's other hosts of Fox News. It's other Republican leaders. And they need to be called out!" she continued. "Listen, if you are an advertiser advertising on that station, you are part of the problem. If you sit on the board and are trying to be a civilized person — Paul Ryan, my friend, I'm talking to you – you are part of the problem. If you're a Republican donor tweeting about how bad you feel about this but you're donating to people like Elise Stefanik, you are part of the problem! If you are a staffer working for them, you are part of the problem! If you are voting for them, you are part of the problem!"
HATE SPEECH AND CONSPIRACY THEORIES FUELING VIOLENCE? In the wake of a weekend of mass shootings in America, #TheView panel discusses social media's role in spreading hate. https://t.co/cVclFZQmjA pic.twitter.com/5cBiM8ByN6
— The View (@TheView) May 16, 2022
The View's audience gave Navarro a loud round of applause, but she wasn't done yet. "I'll tell you what great replacement theory should be!" she said. "We should replace all these people peddling hate and making financial and political gain from spreading racism. We should replace them!"
Whoopi Goldberg also sounded off on replacement theory, which she dismissed outright. "He was concerned that he's being replaced by Black and brown people. And I just want to say, listen, if that was the case, don't you think we would've gotten it done?" said the longtime moderator. "Nobody's trying to replace you! You're trying to replace us. We're not going anywhere. Doing this is not going to help.
10 KILLED IN RACIALLY MOTIVATED SHOOTING: As the country reels after a weekend of mass shooting — including a massacre that targeted a predominantly Black community on Saturday in Buffalo, New York — #TheView panel discusses. https://t.co/sPrsWwOgJV pic.twitter.com/0X9xfrkwUA
— The View (@TheView) May 16, 2022
"Frankly, I'm sick of all the people pretending that that's not what they mean when they talk that code. People talk code and say, 'Oh well, you know, voters,'" she continued. "That's not what you mean! If that's what you meant, people would say, 'Hey, let's talk about the voting laws,' but they don't! We know what you mean when you say it. We've been Black and brown long enough to recognize it. Stop it!"
Claire Spellberg Lustig is the Senior Editor at Primetimer and a scholar of The View. Follow her on Twitter at @c_spellberg.
TOPICS: Whoopi Goldberg, ABC, The View, Ana Navarro, Tucker Carlson, Gun Violence