Sunny Hostin Defends Dictator Maduro, Should Have Remained in Power

Tuesday was day two of The View’s meltdown over President Trump arresting Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro and extraditing him to the U.S. This time however, co-host Sunny Hostin amped up her rhetoric from the previous day and argued that Maduro should have remained in power because his removal supposedly wasn’t done the “right” way. It was also Joy Behar’s first day back since their winter hiatus and she was upset that Maduro was out and America was the strongest country in the world.

At one point, Behar admitted that she wasn’t really following the news of the day because “I have a life,” despite it being literally her job (which explained a lot about her chronic ignorance), and was upset by the idea of other dictators possibly being from power:

Here’s what I don't understand. I may not be up on all of this stuff because I have a life. But, okay, Maduro is a bad guy. We took him out. So is Kim Jong-un, so is Putin, so is -- what's that other guy in Hungary? And we're going to go into all these countries and just kidnap the leaders?!

 

 

Fact check: false. America did not “kidnap” Maduro. He was arrested, read his rights, and was extradited to the United States.

It was in response to Behar that Hostin started shouting about how Maduro shouldn’t have been removed from power, falsely claiming it was illegal:

HOSTIN: That's the issue here. Yes, we can all agree Maduro an illegitimate president who did horrible things in that country and was corrupt. The way he was removed from that country matters! We are supposed to be a nation of laws!

BEHAR: Well, that ship has sailed.

HOSTIN: The way we did it was against international criminal law! It's against the United Nations! We can’t do it!

Co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin chimed in to note that there was decades of precedent and many examples of the United States removing dictators from power to protect America’s interests. “It doesn’t make it right!” Hostin shrieked “You don't go into a country and kidnap its leader!”

 

 

Again, fact check: false. See the above notation about kidnapping.

Behar jumped in again to bemoan America’s military might. “Its always somebody who is weaker than we are! It's always a country that we can overpower! It's not China. It's not Russia. It's not North Korea,” she huffed.

It was laughable and ignorant for Behar to think North Korea was a strong military power. Behar should also understand that even China and Russia would fold to America’s military.

Elsewhere in the show, Behar touted that “the U.N. is against what Trump just did in Venezuela” and feared Trump would kick the U.N. out of the country. Luckily, co-host Sara Haines countered her by pointing out the hypocrisy of the U.N.: “So, the U.N. choosing to recognize a nonelected leader is already problematic. They need to be thinking of new rules.”

 

 

Of course, they kicked the show off the show by obsessing over January 6 and moderator Whoopi Goldberg used the topic as an opportunity to decry how America could possibly dare to seek justice in other countries while Trump wasn’t in prison:

GOLDBERG: When people talk about, you know, they want to see the right thing done in other countries, well, we tried to do something in this country and where is all of –

HOSTIN: The justice.

GOLDBERG: - that justice for that? We got a country that we could use some help with. But we're over, you know, in -- I don't know. I just -- I get frustrated.

Behar bloviated again by accusing the U.S. Supreme Court of having “helped abetted” Trump in his crimes.

 

 

This is an ABC News program.

The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:

ABC’s The View
January 6, 2026
11:10:59 a.m. Eastern

(…)

WHOOPI GOLDBERG: When people talk about, you know, they want to see the right thing done in other countries, well, we tried to do something in this country and where is all of –

SUNNY HOSTIN: The justice.

GOLDBERG: - that justice for that? We got a country that we could use some help with. But we're over, you know, in -- I don't know. I just -- I get frustrated and I realize --

JOY BEHAR: Because there are a lot of factors right now that didn't exist even during Watergate. The Supreme Court has helped abetted him.

HOSTIN: Yes.

[Crosstalk]

BEHAR: You know, he says he's bringing money down -- prices down. He hasn't done that.

GOLDBERG: He was supposed to do that day one!

BEHAR: The main thing he promised his voters no foreign wars and here we are.

GOLDBERG: And here we are.

BEHAR: He’s a liar.

GOLDBERG: And you know what, here we are too. But we'll be right back.

(…)

11:17:47 a.m. Eastern

BEHAR: Is he [Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller] admitting that we're going there for their resources or not? I mean, they have uranium, lithium, Niobium, and zirconium.

HOSTIN: All that have is very important for tech.

BEHAR: Electric car, cell phones, batteries, and computers use all of that stuff. Why don't you just say what you're there for. And also, can you just go into any country and decide, ‘gee, I think I'm going to take some of their stuff.’ I don't think that's against – that’s pro-U.N. rules.

HOSTIN: No, it’s against -

BEHAR: By the way, the U.N. is against what Trump just did in Venezuela!

HOSTIN: Yes!

BEHAR: And my husband said this morning, ‘watch him take the U.N. out of this country.’ Watch!

SARA HAINES: One critique is the U.N. is, the U.S. did not even recognize Maduro because he had lost an election. So, the U.N. choosing to recognize a nonelected leader is already problematic. They need to be thinking of new rules.

(…)

11:19:26 a.m. Eastern

ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: The Venezuelan people wanted to see Maduro gone. So, these opposition leaders have teams and have chiefs of staff.

BEHAR: But wait a second.

FARAH GRIFFIN: They have diplomats.

BEHAR: Here’s what I don't understand. I may not be up on all of this stuff because I have a life. But, okay, Maduro is a bad guy. We took him out. So is Kim Jong-un, so is Putin, so is -- what's that other guy in Hungary? And we're going to go into all these countries and just kidnap the leaders?!

HOSTIN: That's the issue here. Yes, we can all agree Maduro an illegitimate president who did horrible things in that country and was corrupt. The way he was removed from that country matters! We are supposed to be a nation of laws!

BEHAR: Well, that ship has sailed.

HOSTIN: The way we did it was against international criminal law! It's against the United Nations! We can’t do it!

FARAH GRIFFIN: But guys, we've done this for 30 years. Gadhafi, Saddam.

HOSTIN: It doesn’t make it right!

FARAH GRIFFIN: I know, but let’s just be consistent with other administrations at under just as tenuous authority we have taken out – We all agree without a good plan in place it goes disastrously. I am not pro-nation building

HOSTIN: You don't go into a country and kidnap its leader!

BEHAR: Its always somebody who is weaker than we are! It's always a country that we can overpower! It's not China. It's not Russia. It's not North Korea.

FARAH GRIFFIN: Again, I would support taking out Vladimir Putin.

(…)