"The View" started the show by calling out Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and his performative request that the Judiciary Committee say the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of every committee meeting. But Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI) didn't have it, demanding that if they're going to say the pledge that it not be led by those who attempted to overthrow the government.
Co-host Whoopi Goldberg explained that they already start every day with the pledge and a prayer, which is why Gaetz's demand seems like it's just for show.
"This is the Judiciary Committee. Wouldn't it be a better show of patriotism to be working on issues like police violence, mass shootings, prison reform?' asked Goldberg. "You know, this — you know, people — I don't know what it's going to take for them to recognize it. They're not — people aren't fooling around. The people of the United States aren't fooling around. You're wasting everybody's time suggesting your people do what they already do. What is this waste of time?"
Joy Behar quoted poet Samuel Johnson saying, "Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel."
"What is Gaetz speaking refuge from?" mocked Behar.
"How much time do we have?" asked Sara Haines.
"Yeah. So, we have to do the Pledge of Allegiance because he's hiding all his sins. We know what they are. One is he supported the insurrection. He's been accused of sex trafficking, which he has denied. He's an election denier. They always say let's wave the flag, rally around the flag when there's something to hide. That's what he's doing."
Goldberg cut in, noting that the Fox network likes to come after them every day.
"They don't do their work," she said of the conservative network. "They come at us for doing what we're supposed to do which is give you our opinion. That's the beautiful thing about America. In America, we can each give our opinion. You don't have to like it. It's just somebody's opinion."
She went on to say that the beauty of America is that someone can say "this is what's wrong with America" and then work to fix it.
Sarah Haines pointed out the keywords in the Pledge of Allegiance "one nation, indivisible..."
"Well, we were a little divisible and he was a part of that," said Haines of Gaetz. "I think when your actions speak louder than your words don't interrupt. And he's shown us who he is. So, no number of Pledges of Allegiance will tell me that he has any sense of what it means to truly believe in a country."
See the discussion below or at this link.
