Joy Behar Praises Liz Cheney: She's 'The Only Hero' of Jan. 6, Not Mike Pence

As if you needed further proof that the world has turned upside-down, Joy Behar hailed Rep. Liz Cheney as a "hero" for telling the truth about the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol, despite the political ramifications.

Though Behar was clear former Vice President Mike Pence shouldn't be celebrated for certifying the election results on January 6, 2021 — "If he was just doing his job and he became a hero, then we're heroes, because we're just doing our job," she said — she was less critical of Cheney, one of just a handful of Republicans to speak out against Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election. "The only hero is really Liz Cheney," said Behar. "I don't agree with her politics, but to me, she is a hero in the sense that she does not care about her job more than she cares about the country."

"She is not going to get herself reelected because of the position she has put herself in," the longtime co-host continued. "But because of her, we are hearing the truth in an unbiased way. She is a Republican, after all. That's a hero."

JAN. 6 PHOTOS SHOW MIKE PENCE IN HIDING: A new photo obtained exclusively by @ABC News shows then-Vice Pres. Pence and his family in hiding after rioters broke into the Capitol on Jan. 6 — #TheView co-hosts react as some hail him as a hero. https://t.co/bRHDUs90gA pic.twitter.com/k9jzSu3DFk

— The View (@TheView) June 17, 2022

Sunny Hostin immediately pushed back, saying she won't give Cheney "hero status," but "commend[ed] her for the work she's doing" with the January 6 committee.

"The real heroes — the hero is that young woman, that police officer, who testified. She's a hero," said Whoopi Goldberg. "Those folks that tried to stop people from breaching — those are the heroes."

As the discussion came back around to Pence, guest co-host Ana Navarro reminded the panel that the former vice president is still "complicit" in Trump's nefarious activities. "Four years of complicity is something we're going to have to litigate as a country. Because what happened on January 6 did not happen in a vacuum. It did not happen overnight," she said.

"They legitimized him, they empowered him, they defended him, they lied for him, they justified him, they emboldened him over and over again," Navarro said of Trump's "minions," Pence included. "Now we're having to be faced with this issue of, 'Oh, let's forgive them, and let's accept them, and better late than never.' Hell no! You are part of this problem!"

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