Joy Behar and Sunny Hostin Paint a Bleak Picture: 'We've Become a Fascist Government'

Have the women of The View forgotten that Donald Trump is no longer in office? On Tuesday morning, Joy Behar and Sunny Hostin painted a bleak picture of the future when they insisted the "fascist government" of the Trump era is here to stay, as a majority of Republicans continue to support the former president's debunked Big Lie about the 2020 election. "I'm terrified for the future of the democracy in this country, if that's what people are really believing," said Hostin, as Behar added that the country's shift towards a dictatorship feels "overwhelming."

The mood was anything but jovial this morning as the co-hosts — who returned to a remote broadcast amid the Omicron surge — discussed Republicans' continued efforts to downplay the January 6 insurrection. "How are we supposed to deal with people who live in this fantasy land?" asked Behar. "They seem to be in complete denial, and they don't seem to be watching the same or reading the same newspapers that the rest of us are reading."

Hostin was first to chime in, and she praised the bipartisan January 6 commission for ensuring that Americans understand what happened that day and "see it with their own eyes" on television. "The only thing I'm concerned about, though, that being said, is Trump has ushered in this alternative facts decade," she continued. "It appears now that 34% of Americans say violent action against the government is justified. 40% of Republicans, 41% of Independents, but only 23% of Democrats say violence is sometimes justified."

"When you look at those stats, where are we in this country?" continued Hostin. "We've become so much more of a fascist government. It appears to be much more of a dictatorship."

AMERICA GRAPPLES WITH DENIAL OVER JAN. 6 EVENTS: As we approach the one year anniversary of the Capitol attack, @JoyVBehar, @sunny, @ananavarro, and @YNB discuss the impact of those who do not believe the details revealed by the House Jan. 6 committee. https://t.co/om0CPHpGPj pic.twitter.com/7TdrHedUna

— The View (@TheView) January 4, 2022

Behar then chimed in to say that "Trump was just talking about how great Orbán is, the dictator of Hungary," and seems to have a preference for un-democratically-elected leaders. "He loves Putin. He loves Bolsonaro. He loves all of these dictators around the world," she said. "And he would like to have that kind of power over us. I'm not sure that we're able to stop it at this point. It feels like it's overwhelming."

Elsewhere on The View... Ana Navarro had the Joke of the Day when she "found" her husband's list of grievances about their marriage.

Who says The View's week of virtual shows can't be fun?

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