Sunny Hostin forced to read legal notice on air just minutes after smearing Trump's AG pick



President-elect Donald Trump announced last week that he wants to replace Attorney General Merrick Garland with Florida firebrand Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.). The prospect of a Republican AG willing to play hardball sent a great many Democratic lawmakers and liberal media personalities into fits of frenzy.

Sunny Hostin of Disney's "The View," the co-host who unwittingly helped derail the Harris campaign, handled the news worse than others. Unlike other talking heads, Hostin had to immediately walk back her baseless smears Tuesday — likely out of fear of a crushing defamation lawsuit.

Days after blaming "uneducated white women" and Hispanic men for Trump's landslide victory, Hostin launched into an unhinged rant and characterized Gaetz as a sex offender.

'These are baseless allegations.'

"Within the Department of Justice, you know, you have the sex crimes unit, which is what I was a part of. Child sex crimes and child trafficking. How could you nominate someone with allegations of child trafficking across — or trafficking across state lines and having sex with a 17-year-old?" said the former federal prosecutor. "My understanding further on in the interview, they discuss the fact that once he finds out that she's 17, he stops having sex with her."

Hostin appears to have been referring to Florida attorney Joel Leppard's recent claims about what one of his unnamed clients alleged in a 2017 testimonial.

Trump transition spokesman Alex Pfeiffer told ABC News, "These are baseless allegations intended to derail the second Trump administration. The Biden Justice Department investigated Gaetz for years and cleared him of wrongdoing."

A source familiar with the DOJ's investigation suggested that case was dropped in part because there were significant doubts on the part of the prosecutors that they could prove that Gaetz actually had relations with the supposed woman or knew of her age.

Just minutes after uncritically regurgitating Leppard's unsubstantiated claims as fact, Hostin was given a legal notice to read and did so with a sullen face:

Matt Gaetz has long denied all allegations, calling the claims "invented" and saying in a statement to ABC News that "this false smear following a three-year criminal investigation should be viewed with great skepticism." That DOJ investigation was closed with no charges being brought.

Whoopi Goldberg subsequently announced, "We'll be right back," and the show cut to commercials.

Gaetz responded on X only with the eyes emoji.

Responding to Hostin's required reading of the legal notice, "The Chad Prather Show" host Chad Prather wrote, "Make her do it every day."

Although also an expert in talking nonsense, former Republican Rep. George Santos was less than sympathetic, writing, "I love when ABC humiliates this witch! LOL."

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Aide to Sen. Marsha Blackburn says Republican 'misspoke' by referring to Biden as 'president-elect'



A staffer for Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R) was quick to tell the press Friday night that the strong ally for President Donald Trump "simply misspoke" when she referred to Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden as "president-elect" during an evening interview.

President Trump has not conceded the race to Biden, who has been roundly declared the projected winner in the race by mainstream media. The Trump campaign has several ongoing lawsuits contesting the election results in multiple states, alleging voting irregularities and fraud—which Blackburn has reportedly helped fund.

What are the details?

During an interview with ABC News, journalist Juju Chang asked Blackburn, "Have you spoken yet with the president-elect to congratulate him on his victory?"

Blackburn replied, "I have not spoken with the president-elect. We did have the vice-president come to the floor, the vice-president elect, come to the floor this week to cast a vote. I was presiding at the time, didn't get to speak with her, but we're watching the process play out, Juju. And just like in 2000 when a Tennessean, Al Gore, and George Bush were going through the counting of the hanging chads, we will work through this process."

She added, "I will say, now is the time, for the Trump campaign—if they have their information that they need to present in court— now is the time that they need to be taking that evidence to court."

Failed Democratic House candidate Christopher Hale pounced on Blackburn's remarks, tweeting footage of the interview along with the message, "Senator Blackburn's staff is trying to walk this back already, but Marsha knows exactly what she's doing. There's no reason to take a random interview on ABC News Digital on a Friday night before Thanksgiving then to slowly break up with the president of the United States."

Senator Blackburn’s staff is trying to walk this back already, but Marsha knows exactly what she’s doing.There’s… https://t.co/n3npndYkgO
— Christopher J. Hale (@Christopher J. Hale)1605930976.0

Following the interview, the Tennessean reported that "a spokesperson for Blackburn said the comment was a mistake and that Blackburn had 'been very clear' on her position about the election outcome."

The aide, Abigail Sigler, was quoted as saying, "She simply misspoke—it's nothing more."

The Tennessean noted:

The Tennessee senator's comments Friday stand in stark contrast to remarks she has made the past two weeks, suggesting that Trump was still likely to be reelected president despite Biden leading both the popular vote and in the Electoral College, based on results that have not yet been certified in every state.

Blackburn has helped raise funds for the Trump campaign's court challenges. Despite launching more than a couple dozen legal challenges to election outcomes in multiple states, Republicans have failed to gain traction in court to prove massive voter fraud or other irregularities that would change the outcome of the election.
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