During Tuesday’s broadcast of The View, co-host Joy Behar invoked the post-World War II Nuremberg trials while discussing the potential consequences for service members who might follow “illegal orders” from the Trump administration.
According to Fox News, Behar recommended viewers watch Nuremberg, a film dramatizing the Allied trials of Nazi leaders, emphasizing the legal principle that “following orders is not a defense.”
She stressed that military personnel should remain vigilant.
“It’s about the Nuremberg trials of the Nazis after World War II — and following orders is not a defense. So these soldiers have to pay attention,” she said.
The discussion followed a Pentagon investigation into a video featuring six members of Congress warning about potentially unlawful orders.
Behar highlighted a clip of Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., explaining that orders to carry out military strikes on Caribbean vessels without congressional approval would be considered illegal.
“These are the things that [Slotkin’s] talking about. Carrying out military strikes on boats in the Caribbean without congressional approval. That’s an illegal order,” Behar noted.
Behar also referenced former Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper’s claim that President Donald Trump had asked about shooting protesters in the legs during the George Floyd demonstrations in 2020.
Co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin challenged Behar’s assertions, arguing that military drone strikes abroad and the hypothetical scenario of targeting U.S. protesters should not be equated.
“But these are things that could be potentially construed as illegal orders. Using major American cities as a training ground for the military,” Behar responded.
Griffin pushed back again, warning that questioning orders without clear legal guidance could create chaos within the Pentagon.
“I think that this is actually a much broader conversation about congressional authorization… And you would have a major problem at the Pentagon if you had rank and files raising their hands saying, ‘I don’t know if this got congressional authorization,’” she said, referencing her previous Pentagon experience.
Co-host Ana Navarro highlighted U.S. Navy Admiral Alvin Holsey, who resigned rather than follow orders he deemed unlawful. Griffin acknowledged the point but cautioned against generalizing, emphasizing the complexity of U.S. military operations.
“They should pay attention to the clear unlawful orders. You know when an order is outside of the Constitution,” she said.
