Sunny Hostin, co-host of “The View,” was called out by one of her colleagues on the program, Alyssa Farah Griffin, for times in the recent past when she defended her support for controversial Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner. As the conversation turned toward the most recent Platner allegations — sexual assault — co-host Sarah Haines ripped into liberals for supporting him just because he’s a Democrat.
“It is a disgusting time in politics where we decide what we’re willing to morally accept based on the jersey you’re wearing, and if you are one of those people that was willing to plug your nose, you’re the problem,” she went on to say during the segment. Hostin admitted that she was “the problem,” before attempting to deflect by turning the focus on the Republican Party.
“Because I was one of those people and I said it, if I lived in Maine I would have, you know, plugged my nose and would have voted for him anyway. I think we are in a time of existential crisis in this country and I think Republicans fall in line. They don’t fall in love. Democrats want to fall in love and not fall in line. The Republican Party, the bar is so very low, I can’t believe that they want to try to assume the moral high ground of the Republican Party,” she explained.
Hostin then cited the confirmation of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and the controversies swirling around him during his confirmation hearings. “In 2017, a woman claimed he had sexually assaulted her after a conference. She reported that assault immediately. She had a sexual assault examination, and he says it was a consensual encounter, and in 2020 he paid her $50,000 to settle the claim yet, yet,” Hostin said.
Griffin then asked Hostin why she wouldn’t condemn the actions across the board. Hostin responded by saying the GOP confirmed Hegseth, attempting to avoid being held accountable for her own hypocrisy, according to a report from Fox News. “Well, I’m a Republican right here condemning anyone who’s been credibly accused of sexual abuse,” Griffin fired back.
Once again, Hostin tried to keep the focus of the conversation on Republicans rather than confess that she should have never backed Platner to begin with, saying that the GOP was protecting deceased pedophile sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. “You’d be comfortable still voting for Graham Platner if you lived in Maine?” Griffin asked her co-host.
Instead of answering Griffin’s question, she went right back to saying the Republican Party didn’t get to take the moral high ground. And then co-host Joy Behar jumped into the fray. Later in the program, Hostin stated that Platner should drop out of the Senate race, since the party would be able to replace him according to the law.
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On July 7, 2026, former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) appeared on “The View” where she was confronted by Hostin about an X post she deleted about one of Platner’s accusers. “If you are raped or sexually assaulted, report it immediately. Don’t wait years later until the man runs for office to go to news outlets to tell your story. And if you had consensual sex with him years ago, don’t turn it into rape for politics with conflicting stories,” she wrote.
Hostin asked her why she was accusing the accuser of “rape for politics.” Greene said she hadn’t and said, “I posted that because I support women who have been raped or sexually assaulted and I want them to have justice. Secondly, don’t wait until they’re running for office. We need to know early on.” Hostin was also upset by the comment Greene made about having “consensual sex.”
“The fact that someone dates people or has had consensual sex with them previously does not mean that they cannot be raped. Married women can be raped. Sex workers can be raped,” Hostin ranted. On June 1, 2026, Hostin referred to Platner as a homophobic racist and anti-Semite. Just two days later, she said she would hold her nose and cast a ballot for him if it meant taking back Congress.
Featured Image: screenshot from embedded video