An intense fight over Trumpcare’s passage broke out on Monday’s episode of “The View” when the women discussed Newsweek reporter Kurt Eichenwald, who had tweeted that he hoped family and friends of Republican Congress members die from pre-existing conditions.
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Eichenwald later deleted the tweet because he said that people were taking it the wrong way and he wanted to explain himself better.
"Millions like me tonight don't know if GOP 'health' bill will pass and kill them [sic]," he tweeted. "I hope those who vote for it someday face same anguish we do."
He went on to criticize those identifying as Christians who pray for the sick while passing laws against them.
Co-host Jedediah Bila said that Eichenwald's tweets made her sick and her fellow co-host Joy Behar was quick to jump in.
"As far as how this sounded, he's talking, basically, about a Republican Congress that just tried to pass a law that would kick 24 million people, women, children, who are at risk, off of the insurance rolls. And then they celebrated. They started to clap and -- I mean, that to me is more obscene than what he said," Behar said.
"Then saying people should die?" Bila replied. "That's terrible!"
"He's using hyperbole," Behar said.
"When I read this, it made me sick, though," Bila said.
"It didn't make you sick when they were celebrating?" Behar asked.
"What they're celebrating -- they're not celebrating people being thrown off the rolls," Bila described.
"Yes they are!" Behar exclaimed.
Bila explained that she believes Republicans are celebrating that many in their districts whose healthcare costs went up will have some relief.
Eichenwald has epilepsy and co-host Sunny Hostin said that what she understood him to be talking about was the lack of empathy among the legislators.
"If you think about it, sometimes people can't empathize with others unless they have someone very close to them going through it or they're going through it themselves," she said.
Behar brought up former First Lady Nancy Reagan, noting that after her husband died of Alzheimer's she became an advocate for stem cell research and every other Republican suddenly came on board.
Whoopi Goldberg shot back against those who said Eichenwald's comments weren't artfully stated.
"I don't think that was in-artful," she began. "I think that's somebody who's suffering who says 'Y'a'll didn't have to do what you did the way you did it. And basically, you're giving me the middle finger so I'm giving you five fingers back.'"
Co-host Sara Haines said that Eichenwald explains that the frequent GOP statement that people can simply go to the emergency room is a bogus excuse.
"People with certain chronic illnesses, you can't just show up in an emergency room and get chemotherapy," she said.
You can watch the full exchange below:
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