Everyone seems to have an opinion about the who-knew friendship between Ellen DeGeneres and George W. Bush. Now the ladies of “The View” have shared their thoughts, and they’re rather split.
DeGeneres received backlash earlier this week after hanging out with America’s 43rd president at a Dallas Cowboys’ game, and she addressed criticism on her daytime talk show by asking her viewers to be kind to everyone, even if you don’t agree with their beliefs.
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“How much time we’re wasting tweeting out negative things about other people when we should be spending time with our children, with our family or, heaven forbid, friends who might think differently than we do,” Abby Huntsman said on the show.
Joy Behar, however, didn’t agree with her co-host, stating that she didn’t want to hang out with George W. Bush because she knew she would like him.
“[But] if you lost a child in Iraq, then you don’t like him so much,” Behar added.
Bush was president during the unpopular U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, and was also criticized for his opposition to same-sex marriage and botched response to Hurricane Katrina.
Sunny Hostin commented on Bush’s stance on same-sex marriage, stating he could’ve done something about it while he was in power. Meghan McCain interrupted Hostin to say that Obama had the same views as Bush on same-sex marriage until he changed them.
Hostin countered, reminding everyone that in 2004 Bush pushed for a Constitutional amendment to ensure that marriage would only be between a man and woman.
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“I think when you are a woman like Ellen who came out and changed the lives of so many people in the LGBTQ community, I can understand why there were people that were put off by seeing her,” she added.
McCain noted that she is on the fence about the issue. She said she doesn’t choose her friends based on their political background, but the “revisionist history” of the Bush administration is a hard thing to swallow.
Whoopi Goldberg ended the discussion saying she would relish the opportunity to sit next to someone who had opposing views to her own.
“The man who owns the Cowboys sent tickets and she ended up sitting next to Bush. These are two gay women. If [Bush] has got a problem, he’s gonna be real uncomfortable. I’d be leaning on him, I’d be hugging, I would be messing with him. If you have the opportunity to take a second to show people your humanity, why wouldn’t you try?” she explained.
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Goldberg concluded by saying that people should be given a chance to grow and “at least try to change.”
