In the aftermath of President-elect Donald Trump’s landslide win in the 2024 election, the co-hosts of “The View” have had to make on-air legal statements to fact-check their comments continually. As legal notes have become a persistent feature of the show, co-hosts such as Sunny Hostin show increasing frustration when making the announcements live on-air.
The legal statements pertain to comments made during various segments on the ABC talk show about Trump’s cabinet picks, including Pete Hegseth, Matt Gaetz, Pam Bondi, and the incoming president himself. The legal notes explain that all of these individuals have denied allegations of criminal activity and/or sexual misconduct after the panel has discussed serious accusations brought against them.
The fact-checks have become so prevalent during the show in recent weeks, that Ana Navarro joked the show was becoming nothing more than legal notes and products they were pushing on their audience. “This show’s gonna be just legal notes and things we’re selling,” she said. Joy Behar concurred, stating that the show should be retitled to “The Legal Note.”
The American Tribune has reported extensively on the proliferation of legal notes about Trump’s cabinet picks, where co-host Sunny Hostin had to read three legal notes in under three minutes. With each reading of the correction on-air, Hostin appeared visibly frustrated with the fact that she had issue the statement to absolve herself and the show of legal liability.
During one recent segment, Hostin said, “I have a legal note…Matt Gaetz has long denied all allegations and has not been charged with any crime.” Making another correction, Hostin fact-checked a statement about Trump’s cabinet pick for Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth. “Also another legal note, Pete Hegseth’s lawyer said he paid the woman in 2023 to head off the threat of a baseless lawsuit. He has denied any wrongdoing,” she added.
“I have another legal note,” Hostin later announced on the show. “Both Trump and Pam Bondi have denied allegations of a quid pro quo that his past donation played any role in her office’s decision to not take legal action against Trump University. When she was, of course, the Attorney General of Florida.” This prompted Navarro to quip, “This show is going to be just legal notes and things we’re selling. Behar chimed in, “That’s why I said we’re not calling the legal note.”
The Tribune reported on another recent legal note from December 2, in which Sunny Hostin had to read off yet another legal note about Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth. This time it pertained to remarks from Hostin about Hegseth paying off a woman in recent years to avoid a lawsuit. “Pete Hegseth has denied any wrongdoing. His lawyer said he paid the woman in 2023 to head off the threat of a baseless lawsuit. No charges were ever brought.” Reacting to the interruption to the segment, Whoopi Goldberg said, “You rushed me for that?”
Watch the legal notices below:
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.
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