Reporter Kara Swisher and Sunny Hostin went head-to-head on Thursdayâs edition of The View over whether White House Reporters should push back on President Donald Trumpâs attacks.
The conversation centered on Trumpâs l attacks on CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins. The president said she had âhatred in her eyesâ and ânever smiles.â
âIn my career, when I was practicing law, I was often told, âYou should smile more,â which is an unbelievable thing,â Hostin said. âBut I also take a bit of umbrage at the other Reporters there because â by the way, the other Reporters werenât smiling. The men werenât smiling. He didnât mention that â But I do feel that when when one of your colleagues is attacked in that way, a follow-up question or a statement â someone in the room, maybe one of the men â should have said, âSir, you should not speak to her that way.â I would have liked to have seen that,â Hostin said.
Swisher did not agree with Hostin.
âWell, Iâm going to disagree with you because I think the job of Reporters is not to react to that kind of nonsense, right?â Swisher said. âThe whole thing is, when youâre a reporter, the story shouldnât be about you.â
âThat is true,â Hostin agreed.
âBut itâs really hard,â Swisher continued. âOne of the things â I know Kaitlan really well, and he attacks Maggie Haberman, a whole bunch of people I know really well â and to react is the really, is where you lose in that game. Because with these people, every accusation is a confession, so what he is saying is about him and not about her. And I thought she handled it well. She has to be absolutely â she made a joke about Alabama, which is fantastic. But the minute you say something, you get dragged into it in a way that he benefits and you donât.â
âWhat about the other Reporters? Do you think maybe they should have said ââ Hostin started to say.
âNo! Nobody should say anything,â Swisher said.
âBecause I think this administration is so aberrant, I think itâs just such an abnormal situation. I donât know that you play by the rules that we used to play by,â Hostin said.
âBecause that becomes the story then!â Swisher said. âThe fight between him and her. If she responds ââ
âAlthough itâs already the story, right?â Hostin responded.
âNo, itâs not, because she then asked a question â by the way, what was really interesting was, she hadnât asked a question,â Swisher said. âBut she then got in about the slush fund, and then he answered in a very different way from Todd Blanche. So, she got what she needed, which was the news.â
