“The View” co-hosts appeared to link former President Donald Trump’s past comments to the moment someone stormed the stage and attacked comedian Dave Chapelle.
The panel discussed the incident involving Chapelle on Wednesday.
Whoopi Golberg asked, “What do you think is happening? I mean it’s happening on airplanes, it’s happening on street corners.”
“Things that can contribute to what’s going on: The pandemic, the opioid crisis, the fact that Trump was out there saying things like, ‘just knock the hell out of them, I promise you I’ll pay for the legal fees’ when he had a heckler,” Joy Behar responded.
She added, “I mean, there are many factors involved here. And then Will Smith was like the pièce de résistance.”
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The View just straight up blamed the attack on Dave Chappelle on Trump. pic.twitter.com/LtJabPypK2
— Brandon Morse (@TheBrandonMorse) May 4, 2022
Behar appeared to be referring to a moment from a 2016 Trump rally.
“If you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of them, would you?” he told his security team.
Trump added, “Seriously. Just knock the hell out of them. I promise you, I will pay for the legal fees. I promise. There won’t be so much of them because the courts agree with us.”
She also pointed to the viral moment when actor Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars in March.
However, guest Lindsey Granger interjected, “This is not a political thing. You want to wrap it into politics, but this is really about security.”
Behar countered, “It didn’t happen before.”
“Will Smith wasn’t particularly right-leaning running up on the stage and slapping Chris Rock,” Granger responded.
Additionally, Sunny Hostin said, “I think that Trump unleashed some incivility at least in our country.”
“You don’t know anything about this person that went up there and tried to attack [Chapelle],” Granger said.
During a show on Tuesday night, a man ran up on stage and attacked Chapelle, as IJR reported.
ABC News’ Stephanie Wash tweeted, “Dave Chapelle was rushed [and] attacked on stage by a man at the Hollywood Bowl. Chapelle tussled w/ the man, who ran behind the screen on stage and was surrounded by security.”
She added, “LAPD confirm to KABC they responded to an incident at the Hollywood Bowl around 10:45 p.m., and a man who was reportedly armed with a gun and a knife was taken into custody.”