Ana Navarro from “The View” has asserted that Donald Trump owes his election victory over Kamala Harris to her and her fellow cohosts.
Navarro, aged 54, shared this perspective during her appearance on CNN Newsnight on Wednesday. She highlighted the show’s controversial attempt to offer Harris a platform ahead of the 2024 election.
Navarro specifically referenced a viral incident where Harris hesitated when questioned about how she would differentiate herself from then-President Joe Biden.
In that memorable moment, Harris eventually responded, “There is not a thing that comes to mind,” leaving a significant impact.
This week, Navarro addressed Trump directly, remarking: “It was like your most-viewed political ad during the 2024 campaign. You should appreciate that we featured her.”
She further commented, “I look at Trump and think, dude, what’s your issue with ‘The View’ now?”
The View was hit with a probe from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) this week, after hosts welcomed Texas Rep. James Talarico to the show on February 2.
FCC chairman Brendan Carr claimed the appearance violated a revived guidance on its ‘equal time rule’ – one meant to ensure radio stations provided equal air time to opposing political candidates back in the 1920s and ’30s.
Ana Navarro told fellow panelists on CNN that Donald Trump should be ‘thankful’ for The View, ABC’s long-running opinion program
The high-stakes blunder unfolded during what was supposed to be a softball interview last October on the ABC talk show, just weeks before election day
‘These rules and these laws are outdated and just don’t conform to the modern media landscape,’ Navarro said, citing the fact that Talarico is 36-year-old Democrat running to flip a Republican’s seat in the Senate.
Navarro continued: ‘The equal-time rule was founded in, what, 1927. There wasn’t even TV networks then. It was reformed in 1934, it actually applied to radio.
‘And in 1959, when there were three networks, it was reformed to exempt news programs.
‘The View falls under the news division on ABC,’ she maintained.
The show, meanwhile, is deeply rooted in opinion, with hosts not reading from scripts and given free rein to ask questions.
Such an arrangement made Harris’s high-stakes blunder in October 2024 even more surprising.
The original inquiry – from Harris supporter Sunny Hostin – appeared to be the most basic of questions, and she frantically offered Harris a follow-up at the time.
In an episode a month later, Hostin addressed her decision to help Harris out in the moment, admitting she followed up because she ‘was surprised at the answer.’
‘Look, I think it wasn’t so much about the question, but it was really more about the answer,’ Hostin said.
‘The reason I followed up was because that wasn’t a gotcha question. That was a layup, really.’
The interview aired just weeks before the 2024 election, leading pollsters to say it contributed to Harris’s loss.
The ‘equal time rule’, meanwhile, was stripped of exemptions that had been in place since the 1990s just last month.
The exemptions had allowed hosts like Jay Leno to welcome any guest to their shows regardless of political affiliation. The View aired its first episode in 1997, shortly after the exemptions were enacted.
Carr – the mastermind behind the move – told Fox News on Wednesday that the FCC ‘started enforcement proceedings’ against ‘The View’ as a way to ‘hold broadcasters accountable’. The probe, as of writing, remains ongoing.
