The View Hosts Unload on Sinema: 'A Republican in Democratic Clothing'

The women of The View were united Thursday morning as they took aim at Sen. Kyrsten Sinema for holding up President Biden's sweeping economic bill. The co-hosts dinged Sinema on everything from her refusal to engage with constituents to her recent decision to wear a sleeveless jean jacket on the Senate floor, an outfit that the panel agreed is "beneath the dignity of the office that she holds," as Sunny Hostin said. But it was Joy Behar who put it most succinctly, saying, "The woman is a Republican in Democratic clothing."

After spending the first 10 minutes of Thursday's show on the recent changes to Biden's Build Back Better bill, the ladies turned their attention to Sinema, one of two moderate Democratic senators who has objected to the economic package. As Whoopi Goldberg explained at the top of the segment, "West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin is vocal in his opposition to issues overwhelmingly supported by Americans," but Sinema "is still not making her objections or her thoughts or anything clear." As a result, Sinema's constituents have begun approaching her to discuss the bill, but in every instance, the senator has refused to engage, as she did with a woman at the airport this week.

"I'm sorry, what is her job?" asked Goldberg, after playing a video of the airport interaction. "She's an elected official. What is her job? Is the woman who's saying, 'I'm one of your constituents,' is that wrong to say there?"

"I'd like to say to her: Senator, you are a public servant," replied Behar. "You are not Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands. You are a public servant. That is your job!"

Ana Navarro then chimed in with an answer to Goldberg's question. "Apparently, Sen. Sinema's job is to dress like [Dwayne] Schneider from One Day at a Time while presiding over the U.S. Senate," she said, as a photo of Sinema's jean jacket outfit appeared on screen. "There are times when you look inappropriate. And there is a dress code in the U.S. Senate, and I think you owe it to the American people and to the institution to show some respect!"

"Who cares what she's wearing? It's the way she votes!" replied Behar, a point to which Hostin agreed. "She has voted 50% of the time along with Trump's policies," said Hostin. "That troubles me."

The left-leaning co-host went on to say that while she's "conflicted about constituents approaching [Sinema] all the time," but she understands the need for it. "As a public official, she should be holding town halls. She should be listening to her constituents," said Hostin. "And that is why I think people are taking these desperate measures."

Finally, Sara Haines managed to get a word in. "She doesn't host town halls or press conferences. She doesn't talk to reporters, and when she does, she's snide," she said, continuing the (deserved) pile-on. "Last month, Sinema went to Arizona for a foot surgery, her spokesperson said, but she also attended a massive fundraising thing, and when constituents tried to approach her, she went out the back way."

"She doesn't speak to constituents, but she speaks to donors and lobbyists, and that is wrong!" summed up Navarro. "I don't know what she is."

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