A Veterans Day conversation on a daytime talk show left viewers questioning whether one co-host recognized a famous American president.
As reported by The Western Journal, the Veterans Day discussion on ABCs The View turned from American service members and the wars the country has fought to a debate over race and emancipation. Co-host Sunny Hostin remarked that former President Abraham Lincoln did not emancipate the slaves, and that the enslaved had done so themselves.
Hostin said, People often say that Abraham Lincoln emancipated the slaves. The slaves basically emancipated themselves because they wanted freedom and they fought for their freedom. That claim, made on a day set aside to honor this countrys veterans, treated Lincolns role and the Unions sacrifice as an afterthought.
Co-host Joy Behar was sitting with the panel when Whoopi Goldberg credited the 16th president by his familiar first name. You have to give it to Abe. You have to give it to Abe, Goldberg told the room.
Abe? Behar asked. Abe Lincoln, Goldberg determined.
It is not clear from the exchange whether Behar failed to recognize that Abe referred to President Lincoln, or was only asking Goldberg to confirm the nickname. After a long record of on-air missteps, the clip left that question unanswered.
Hostin appeared uninterested in crediting Lincoln, a Republican, with the emancipation she had just minimized. Behar, a longtime co-host of the program, offered no further clarification once Goldberg supplied the last name.
Whether Behar simply did not know that Abe meant Abraham Lincoln cannot be settled by the clip alone. What is not in dispute is that a Veterans Day segment on the long-running daytime program required a co-host to explain which Abe was being praised.
Login