The View Hosts Defend Tucker Carlson After 'Indecent' Viral Confrontation

The women of The View spent the past week railing against Tucker Carlson, but this morning, they actually defended the Fox News personality after he was confronted by a man in a Montana store over the weekend. In a rare show of unity, the co-hosts agreed that public figures "should be safe from being accosted" when they're off the job, but (of course), it was Meghan McCain who was most critical of the viral encounter. "Any rationalization that this is normal or should be accepted in the United States of America is not only indecent, but it's beyond the pale of any expectation of any kind of decorum," said the conservative co-host.

This weekend, a man confronted Tucker Carlson in a Montana fishing store, and a video of him calling the Fox News personality "the worst human being known to mankind" quickly went viral. The View kicked off Monday's Hot Topics segment with a discussion of the video, but surprisingly, the co-hosts agreed that the man shouldn't have approached Carlson in that way. "I'm against public confrontations like that, especially when you're in a hostile state of mind," said Joy Behar. "If you have something to say to me, tweet it. Don't come up to me with your hostility. I don't like that."

While "Tucker probably thought that he was in a safe space" in Montana, continued Behar, "When you're spewing lies that cost people their lives, actually no place is safe for him and people like him."

Sunny Hostin agreed with Behar's sentiment about "being accosted or confronted" when you're on vacation, but she, too, noted that Carlson probably deserved it for telling "his audience to harass people who wear face masks outside" and to report parents whose children are wearing masks to the police. "I'm just not surprised that he was confronted by someone that obviously viewed his show, because he's encouraged that kind of behavior," she said.

Just as she did last week, McCain stopped short of putting any blame on Carlson or his Fox News colleagues. "As incendiary as many people find Tucker Carlson, they find the women on this show equally incendiary for different reasons," she said. "So, if it's okay and should be expected — maybe there's an expectation that wherever we go, it's okay for people to come up to us and scream things and say things."

TUCKER CARLSON CONFRONTED OVER VACCINE STANCE: The co-hosts weigh in on the viral video of the Fox News host getting confronted by a man at a Montana fishing store and called Carlson “the worst human being known to mankind.” https://t.co/cVclFZQmjA pic.twitter.com/9C8RKa4Ncv

— The View (@TheView) July 26, 2021

McCain added that the man in the video "was being a total jackass" and "incredibly rude" to Carlson, before saying that interactions like this are a "very, very slippery slope" towards more violence. "There are people that just aren't in control of themselves, and aren't in control of their mental health, and want to take out their aggression on public figures. It's incredibly dangerous," said the conservative. "I know how much people don't like Tucker Carlson. People equally don't like Meghan McCain and Joy Behar and Sunny Hostin and Whoopi and Sara. When you're putting your opinion out there, you're making yourself a target."

"This isn't normal," she concluded. "Anyone that tries to rationalize it is gross, and that man should apologize to Tucker Carlson."

However, like Hostin, Whoopi Goldberg couldn't help but point out another "slippery slope," this one courtesy of Carlson himself. "It doesn't help when you go out and you encourage other people to do it to people you disagree with," said the longtime moderator. "Maybe if we all stop encouraging people to go out and yell at folks in public — maybe we can dial it back a bit. I think that might be better for all of us."

After Monday's show, Fox News issued a statement saying: "Ambushing Tucker Carlson while he is in a store with his family is totally inexcusable — no public figure should be accosted regardless of their political persuasion or beliefs simply due to the intolerance of another point of view."

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