Joy Behar Drags Republicans' 'Own the Libs' Stance: They Even Voted 'Against Babies'

Leave it to Joy Behar to find a new way to hold Republicans' feet to the fire. On Monday morning, the co-hosts celebrated news that baby formula maker Abbott is restarting production at its Michigan plant, but it didn't stop the ladies from reminding viewers why an FDA shutdown triggered a full-scale shortage — and who exactly is to blame. After Whoopi Goldberg noted that 192 Republicans voted against a measure that would help ease the baby formula shortage, Behar insisted the GOP cares more about "owning the libs" than actually helping their constituents. "All they really care about is making Biden look bad," she said. "That seems to be their M.O."

Despite the recent shortage, Whoopi said the shutdown was ultimately a good thing, as the FDA found Abbott's Michigan plant had "egregious unsanitary conditions" that could harm children using their formula. She went on to cite a recent vote to provide $28 million in aid to the FDA to address the shortage — "Only 12 [Republicans] voted with the Dems," she said — and a Trump policy that made it more difficult to import formula from Canada. "I just want to say to Republicans: the next time you want to talk about young lives, babies lives, get with the program!" said the longtime moderator. "You stopped this from happening!"

"Sometimes they vote against the best interests of their constituencies, and against babies, in this case," replied Behar, explaining that "all they really care about" is playing politics. "Let's 'own the libs' and make Biden look bad!'"

BABY FORMULA PLANT RESUMES PRODUCTION: America's largest baby formula company has finally reopened the factory whose shutdown caused a nationwide shortage — #TheView panel weighs in after Pres. Biden's commerce secretary said the FDA made the right move. https://t.co/XE4WWnZevU pic.twitter.com/CSDdEmln1U

— The View (@TheView) June 6, 2022

After a brief moment of confusion on Whoopi's part — she thought Behar said "own the lips" — Behar continued. "It's like a vindictive stance. Instead of trying to make things better, they like making it worse so that Biden looks bad!" she said, before turning to other issues Republicans are pinning on Biden. "By the way, inflation is a worldwide problem. He's getting blamed for that. The gasoline is a worldwide problem. Yes, it's $6 here – it's like $11, $12 in Europe. So you cannot blame the president for every single thing, and yet they will do that."

Guest co-host Lindsey Granger then proceeded to turn Behar's words into a reality when she accused the Biden administration of handling the situation poorly. "I think that parents are just frustrated by anything partisan having to do with this," she said, before doing just that. "I'm just asking for some guidance from the FDA and from President Biden, who knew that the pandemic was happening, knew they were short on supplies, knew parents were stockpiling. They knew that Abbott closed down — the FDA found out that Abbott was going to have issues and the whistleblower complaint in October. They went to go talk to that whistleblower in December and they checked out the place in February. That's four months of lapsed communication."

When Granger reverted to her original point about not wanting "to hear about politics," Whoopi stepped in to educate her. "You can't move forward, because part of the problem is you can't get the formula from Canada! You can't get it! It's a law!" she said. "This is so insane. This is babies."

Claire Spellberg Lustig is the Senior Editor at Primetimer and a scholar of The View. Follow her on Twitter at @c_spellberg.