After the story of Sarah Huckabee Sanders being ousted from The Red Hen restaurant went viral over the weekend, Sunny Hostin found herself the only voice in support of the restaurant owner's decision on "The View" Monday morning.
"I don't consider what happened to Sarah Sanders discrimination," she told the panel. "when you are a public servant you serve the public and if I disagree with the way you are serving me, I think that I can say so."
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View StoryHostin then pointed out that the exchange between Sanders and the restaurant's owner, Stephanie Wilkinson, was cordial and private. Wilkinson asked Sanders to leave because of her position in the Trump administration, and Sanders agreed.
"Sarah Sanders has not only become the face of the policy, she has, in effect, protected them and has explained them and has lied many times," Hostin argued. "The fact that, she wasn't able to eat at a restaurant is not the same as children being ripped from their parents."
"This feels like the moment in our democracy when people have to make uncomfortable actions and decisions to uphold their morals," Wilkinson told The Washington Post after the incident went viral.
Sara Haines didn't like what happened at all, even though she disagrees vehemently with Sanders' position. "I don't like discrimination, regardless of what shape it takes," she said. "I just don't think someone should be refused service or discriminated against because of political affiliation or their ideas."
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View StoryShe urged those opposing Donald Trump to not "become what you're criticizing. If you're talking about an administration that does this to people and then you say, 'Now I'm not going to serve you,' you just became what you hated and what you were standing up against."
Hostin kept trying to argue that this kind of discrimination is different than discrimination based on race or sexual orientation, as political affiliation is a choice. But Meghan McCain worried that this distinction creates a slippery slope. "This is not what we are as Americans and lest I remind people, Steve Scalise was shot at a baseball game because of political motivations. This can easily ramp up from zero to ten," she said. "I don't like it and I don't think this is where should be as Americans."
Scalise, the Republican majority whip in the House of Representatives, was among four people struck when a lone gunman opened fire at a congressional baseball practice. USA Today reported that the shooter had raged against Trump on social media shortly before the attack, leading investigators to believe the shooting was politically motivated.
The rest of the "View" panel talked about the regular bullying and harassment they endure for their political beliefs and the things they say on the show. And while they may not always agree with one another, they did agree that they would defend one another from that type of behavior.
"If you went to a restaurant and someone tried to kick you out, they would have a fight," McCain said. "I would go absolutely crazy; I would defend you. This is not the America I want to live in. I mean it. I would never let anyone kick you out of a restaurant for your political beliefs, one way or another."
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View StoryAnd yet, this is exactly the kind of America that California U.S. Representative Maxine Waters appears to be trying to foster. Whoopi Goldberg showed the viral clip of Waters urging her supporters to make Trump administration personnel feel unwelcome wherever they are in public, and Goldberg couldn't help but be reminded of when African-American people weren't welcome in public places, or how the LGBTQIA community is enduring that now.
Again, McCain urged that accepting political discrimination is a slippery slope that can easily lead to more kinds of discrimination. "I don't want pictures in windows saying Trump supporters not welcome, liberals not welcome, Bernie Sanders supporters not welcome," she said.
"Gay people not welcome, black people," Goldberg quickly added.
When Hostin tried to argue that you can't compare these kinds of discrimination to political discrimination, Goldberg said, "You have to, because in this environment there is no distinction. There's no gray here. When somebody says I don't want those liberals, I think you have to be careful because you don't know."
Hostin argued that "this administration is the height of not being civil," which everyone agreed with. But their counter-argument was that the other side doesn't have to respond in kind.
"The beauty of the democracy is we can coexist peacefully and civilly, differently, so we don't have to agree," Haines said.
For anyone who feels they might just be too angry to do that, Joy Behar had some advice for them, too. "Save your rage for the voting booth, everybody," she said.