Thursday was just another day in the reverse reality that the coven of ABC’s The View occupies as they lashed out Republicans with false accusations that they were the ones “defunding the police” in (heavily Demcoratic) cities around the country, and they were “the real problem” with rising gun violence in cities.

At the top of the show, co-host Joy Behar noted President Biden was meeting with New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) that day to address unchecked gun violence in the city. But Behar was several months behind, asking the panel if now was the time for Democrats “to start speaking up more about fighting crime? What do the Democrats do in this case would you say?”

The time to discuss that was before the 2021 elections when Adams was elected on the promise of fighting crime.

Behar also defended Democrats by suggesting Democrats have been “calling for police reform” rather than “cancel the police” (aka defund the police).

So-called “conservative” co-host Tara Setmayer agreed with Behar that Democrats were just trying to pass reforms and Republicans were pouncing on bad “messaging,” and blamed Fox News (click “expand”):

Well, I have been very vocal about this even last year during the 2020 election. At a time when the Trump campaign was on life support, they were given a shot of adrenaline through the whole defund the police movement, but whether that was true or not, the messaging was awful, and words matter in politics.

So, Republicans have jumped on that, and it’s been a struggle for Democrats to kind of climb out of that messaging hole because Republicans are really good at repeating it over and over and over again, and of course, they have Fox News and other places to elevate it.

“And so Democrats really need to thread this needle carefully because Republicans will exploit the hell out of it,” the Lincoln Project grifter whined.

Ignoring the fact that New York City had defunded their police department by $1 billion in 2020, co-host Sunny Hostin asserted “it’s not about funding” but rather the supposed “the unfettered access to guns in this country.” She also ignored that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has taken a soft-on-crime approach, even letting people with weapons charges walk, and how the widow of a slain officer blamed him for her husband’s murder.

Asides from the lie about the ability for a law-abiding citizen to obtain a gun was “unfettered,” since background checks exist and some states have wait periods, Hostin tried to make it about racism (via stop and frisk, which Adams supports and wasn’t mentioned) and suggested Republicans were defunding police departments:

So, we need the get down to the root problem which is the fact that Republicans are the ones that are defunding the police. They refuse to pass legislation to help the police. It was something, like, $350 billion that the Biden administration did pass, and no Republican voted for it.

As much as they want to deny reality, the reason the Defund the Police movement was such a potent topic against Democrats was the fact it was their brainchild. With it being a rallying cry from Black Lives Matter in 2020, late last year, NBC Nightly News was shocked to learn that liberal Burlington, Vermont defunded their police resulting in a crime spike and residents not feeling safe.

And last summer, ABC gawked as police in Oakland, California were overwhelmed after getting $17 million slashed from their budget.

Further, Behar was horrified by the number of legal guns that were in the possession of law-abiding American citizens. Both she and Hostin teamed up to smear those Americans by claiming their guns were illegal, were the source of all the violence, and accuse them of killing cops (click “expand”):

BEHAR: 400 million guns are in the United States. We only have 330 million people here.

HOSTIN: That’s right.

SETMAYER: Right.

BEHAR: And out of the 400 million, 393 million guns are owned by civilians.

HOSTIN: That’s right.

BEHAR: The police don’t have all the guns. It’s all these people all over the place.

HOSTIN: The police will get killed by those illegal guns.

“Why aren’t Republicans talking about gun control? They don’t talk about root causes. All they talk about is the Democratic problem with gun crime. They are the real problem,” Hostin sneered.

These baseless smears against Republicans and law-abiding gun owners were made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from CarShield and Angi. Their contact information is linked.

The transcript is below, click “expand”:

ABC’s World News Tonight
February 3, 2022
11:02:04 a.m. Eastern

JOY BEHAR: So, there’s a nationwide concern over the rising crime rates according to polls. So, President Biden is heading to New York today to meet to Mayor Eric Adams about it. After thousands of police officers lined 5th Avenue to honor officers recently killed in the line of duty.

So, here’s the question: Do Democrats who’ve been calling for police reform — not to cancel the police, but just to reform it, do they need to start speaking up more about fighting crime? What do the Democrats do in this case would you say?

TARA SETMAYER: Well, I have been very vocal about this even last year during the 2020 election. At a time when the Trump campaign was on life support, they were given a shot of adrenaline through the whole defund the police movement, but whether that was true or not, the messaging was awful, and words matter in politics.

So, Republicans have jumped on that, and it’s been a struggle for Democrats to kind of climb out of that messaging hole because Republicans are really good at repeating it over and over and over again, and of course, they have Fox News and other places to elevate it.

So, it’s clear that Democratic strategists are recognizing this because last year Democrats lost 13 seats. Now, they lost seats in 2020 when they expected to gain them, and part of that was because in swing districts, this idea of defunding the police was an albatross.

So, you have these swing districts for people like Abigail Spanberger in Virginia, in these not necessarily urban area but the swing districts in the suburbs which Democrats need, saying like, “guys, we can’t do this. We have to be careful with what we’re saying because crime” and whether it’s real or not, but statistics are showing it is real and not just in urban areas, “but people feel as though in their own backyards, we have to pay attention to it.”

And I think when you see Biden coming to New York, we see the tragedies that are happening here in New York City with the slain police officers, and this rise in violence against police officers —

BEHAR: Right.

SETMAYER: –that’s happening across the country—

BEHAR: Uh-huh.

SETMAYER: –it’s top of mind for folks and it shouldn’t take a tragedy for people to realize the value of our police.

BEHAR: Uh-huh.

SETMAYER: And so Democrats really need to thread this needle carefully because Republicans will exploit the hell out of it.

BEHAR: Right.

SUNNY HOSTIN: What do I think?

BEHAR: Do you agree?

HOSTIN: You know, I think that what’s interesting to me is New York City has one of the largest budgets for our police department: $10 billion. It was actually $9.9 billion in 2021. I mean, that’s bigger than the GDP of some small countries. Right? So, it’s not about funding, it’s not about the fact that police don’t have enough funding.

But what I do think is interesting is that the conversation about a rise in crime, about a rise in gun crime just never seems to include the unfettered access to guns in this country.

BEHAR: Right.

HOSTIN: And that is because Republicans don’t find it politically expedient, and that is —

BEHAR: Well, they have an A+ rating from the NRA.

HOSTIN: Exactly.

SETMAYER: Which fires up their base.

HOSTIN: However, it just seems to me that, you know, with the argument that gun ownership equals freedom, but stopping and frisking black and brown folks at disproportionate levels always seems to be okay. And the over-policing of those communities always seems to be okay.

So, we need the get down to the root problem which is the fact that Republicans are the ones that are defunding the police. They refuse to pass legislation to help the police. It was something, like, $350 billion that the Biden administration did pass, and no Republican voted for it.

So, it’s just such an intellectually dishonest argument. And I agree with you, Tara. Democrats need to get better at that messaging.

SETMAYER: Mm-hmm.

HOSTIN: Let’s talk about what’s real: this is a Republican problem.

BEHAR: Can I throw a stat in?

SARA HAINES: Yeah.

BEHAR: 400 million guns are in the United States. We only have 330 million people here.

HOSTIN: That’s right.

SETMAYER: Right.

BEHAR: And out of the 400 million, 393 million guns are owned by civilians.

HOSTIN: That’s right.

BEHAR: The police don’t have all the guns. It’s all these people all over the place.

HOSTIN: The police will get killed by those illegal guns. Why aren’t Republicans talk about gun control? They don’t talk about root causes. All they talk about is the Democratic problem with gun crime. They are the real problem, in my view.

BEHAR: And isn’t the Supreme Court poised to have more guns in New York City?

HAINES: Yes.

(…)