Sunny Hostin Rips Republicans Opposing Domestic Terrorism Bill: They 'Welcome White Supremacists'

Sunny Hostin took the GOP to task Thursday morning as she blasted Republicans for voting against a domestic terrorism bill in the wake of the shooting in Buffalo, New York. Though some of her co-hosts were confused by the party-line vote, Hostin spelled it out for them, explaining that the Republican Party "welcomes white supremacists" into its tent. "It's hard to take a stand against it when those are your voters," said the co-host.

"In March of 2020, Christopher Wray, the director of the FBI, testified in front of Congress and said, 'The most pressing issue in our country is domestic terrorism and white supremacy,'" said Hostin. "This bill was put up by three Republicans, as [Sara Haines] mentioned, in September 2020. It was approved by unanimous vote. So the question is, what has changed?"

"What has changed is the most extremist violence in the U.S. comes from the political right," she continued, citing a study from the ADL that found 75% of extremist violence in the past 10 years was committed by right-wing extremists. "There is no way that the Republican Party, especially those in the extreme right-wing of the party, are going to vote for this bill because it exposes the party for what it is. The party of insurrectionists. The party that welcomes white supremacists under its tent. And that is what changed.

LONE REPUBLICAN SUPPORTS DOMESTIC TERROR BILL: Following the Buffalo supermarket shooting, the House passed a bill to aid fight against domestic terrorism – #TheView panel questions why lawmakers couldn’t compromise. https://t.co/KwJQw6ywg4 pic.twitter.com/zZqkagoA4z

— The View (@TheView) May 19, 2022

When guest co-host Stephanie Grisham asked if there's any merit to the Republican argument against the bill — "Republicans are nervous that a bill like this would lead to a slippery slope of labeling things that aren't actually domestic terrorism," she said — Hostin assured her there is not. "No, I don't think it's valid," she said. "What do you stand for if you don't stand against hate?"

Elsewhere on The View... Stephanie Grisham revealed that she testified before the January 6. committee for the second time yesterday afternoon. The former Trump official admitted that the experience "was stressful" and "much, much longer" this time around, but said she's hopeful that the committee is taking steps to hold the right people accountable.

"A couple of the people on the panel had some really pointed questions for me that made me feel like they were headed in a good direction," she said. "Perhaps they've got some information that will be very helpful in holding people accountable — I've got to be careful — in holding the appropriate people accountable, and just more important, showing the people what really went on behind-the-scenes."

Former Trump White House press secretary @OMGrisham on testifying in front of the Jan. 6 committee Wednesday: "It was stressful."

"A couple of the people on the panel had some really pointed questions for me that made me feel like they were headed in a good direction." pic.twitter.com/9hbprnYcG1

— The View (@TheView) May 19, 2022

However, Grisham said she's "very, very nervous" that the committee won't be done investigating before the midterm elections. "I'm really mindful of the clock. As you all know, subpoenas have been put out for people, they're being ignored. And if the Republicans take over in the midterms, they're going to completely eradicate the committee, so nothing will come of it," she said. "The Trump World is very good at ignoring subpoenas and running down the clock. They know how to do that very, very well."

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