Arguably the most disingenuous co-host of ABC’s The View was Sara Haines. Alongside claiming to be an independent while exclusively voting for Democrats, she puts on a persona of an innocent, mild manner farm girl from Iowa. On Thursday, she whined about “shame-laced accusations” being flung at Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico in the “Talafreako” insult. Meanwhile, the day prior, she and the rest of the cast played footsie with suggesting White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia got the job by being a hussy.
What triggered The View snowflakes this time was Vice President J.D. Vance making a joke about Talarico possibly being gay. “Well, you know what? I took more umbrage with the ‘Talafreako,’ because (…) [t]he term ‘freak,’ to me, is more damaging,” Haines declared.
Yesterday, Sara Haines was hinting the new press secretary is a whore (after claiming Gillis's joke leads to rape) and now she's whining about people calling Tararico a "freak" because mean kids use it in school and it's a "shame-laced accusation."
She calls it a "dangerous… pic.twitter.com/hS41QW63B9— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) October 15, 2026
Possibly tapping into her own childhood trauma, Haines said it reminded her of being back in school. She didn’t like the “shame-laced” insults:
Because to me, it harkens those years back to school where someone was labeled a “freak” because they were different. They were other. And then it gave people permission socially to treat them almost like a pariah. It like dehumanizes someone. So, hearing the “Talafreako” bothers me more. And it's not because it's offensive to Talarico. It's for all the people listening that are hearing the shame-laced accusation of ‘if you are different, then you can be a target.’
“And that is such a dangerous message to be sending,” she added.
Haines’ outrage might mean something if she hadn’t engaged in “shame-laced” insults just 24-hours prior.
As NewsBusters previously reported, Haines and the rest of the cast piled on in a thinly veiled laugh fest as they tried to avoid openly suggesting Zacharia had exchanged a sexual favor to get the press secretary gig (Click “expand”):
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: I don't know how this gal got through the door. You can find a lot of people who are prepared to do this. It’s much harder than cable news.
HAINES: I can tell you how she got through the door!
[Laughter]
WHOOPI GOLDBERG: Stop it.
HAINES: You can -
GOLDBERG: Stop it. Don't even think about it. Don't even think about it.
SUNNY HOSTIN: Whoa. Whoa.
GOLDBERG: Don’t do it.
HOSTIN: Whoa.
HAINES: Okay then, I’ll - So, I can -
GOLDBERG: New direction.
HOSTIN: Pivot. Pivot.
HAINES: So I can relate to --
GOLDBERG: No. No. That’s not going to work either.
HAINES: Not that part. Not that part. No. No.
GOLDBERG: Oh my God.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Haines ridiculously claimed that jokes like comedian Shane Gillis’s about gym whores lead to rapes.
Elsewhere in their Thursday discussion of the Talarico joke, co-host Sunny Hostin proclaimed it was a desperate attempt “to start otherizing people” and “fear mongering” ahead of the midterms. “I think what we're identifying is that when you don’t have a winning agenda, when you’ve let down the American people, which I believe the Republican Party has,” she said.
Legacy View co-host Raven Symone was guest co-hosting that day and she too clutched her pearls over Vance’s joke. She lamely tried to turn it about on the Vice President, quipping: “Also, J.D. Vance, no one asked if you were gay. You are literally just saying it out of nowhere, which makes me go hmm.”
Symone also laughably claimed that former NFL quarterback Cam Newton was “super masculine” despite being vegan and dressing flamboyantly. “You thinking that calling someone ‘gay’ or ‘vegan’ demasculates them is actually a very, old, old, old way, which just goes to show you that you’re not up to date and we have no idea what you’re talking about,” the 40-year-old Symone chided, acting like she was still hip with the youngsters.
Raven Symone suggests Vance making his Talarico gay joke is him hinting at his own real sexuality. She claims vegan Cam Newton is "super masculine" in all his girly dress up clothes. pic.twitter.com/VutzrrcPKk
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) October 15, 2026
If Haines was actually all about condemning dehumanizing rhetoric, maybe she should have spoke out against moderator Whoopi Goldberg condemned the fact that President Trump was a human. And then there was the time Haines suggested pro-lifers should die of cancer.
That’s a little bit further than “shame-laced accusations.”
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
ABC’s The View
October 15, 2026
11:05:31 a.m. Eastern(…)
SUNNY HOSTIN: I think what we're identifying is that when you don’t have a winning agenda, when you’ve let down the American people, which I believe the Republican Party has, you have to start otherizing people. Right? That’s the strategy. You have to fear monger. And I that’s what they’re doing
Texas. The Texas Senate race, at this point, is going to go down in history as the most expensive Senate race in U.S. history. While, Americans can't afford Halloween candy and can’t afford Easter - eggs, rather, they are spending -- the Republican Party has spent $367 million on that race. And 60 percent -- But to no avail because 60 percent of independence in Texas support Talarico. Almost all Democrats support Talarico and only seven percent of Republicans support -- also seven percent of Republicans support Talarico.
So, I think he is going to win. I’ve said it before and I will say it again. And even some Republicans in Texas are saying that these ads focusing on transgender issues and ads focusing on gay couples are not resonating.
In the Texas Monthly, Texas State Representative Dade Phelan, who is a Republican, said that he’s seeing Republican candidates talk too much about transgender people. He said, quote, “We're still running transgender ads. It's not resonating. $100 million in ads, $125 million in ads, and nothing’s moved the needle here in Texas in a month in the Senate race.”
So, they are wasting their money, because I think James Talarico will be the next senator from Texas.
[Applause]
RAVEN SYMONE: Also, J.D. Vance, no one asked if you were gay. You are literally just saying it out of nowhere, which makes me go hmm. And the other thing is that they keep using “vegan,” “gay” as these slurs when in actuality Cam Newton is a vegan and I think he’s super masculine.
HOSTIN: And hot.
SYMONE: And hot. And Carl Nassib is gay and he’s super masculine. So, you thinking that calling someone
HOSTIN: And hot too.
SYMONE: Period. You thinking that calling someone ‘gay’ or ‘vegan’ demasculates them is actually a very, old, old, old way, which just goes to show you that you’re not up to date and we have no idea what you’re talking about because it’s just like, you’re trying to set up a joke -- a dad joke that did not land very well.
[Applause]
SARA HAINES: Well, you know what? I took more umbrage with the “Talafreako,” because what it brought to mind was when -
HOSTIN: That’s Trump one right?
HAINES: Well, no. They’ve all been calling - on the right.
[Crosstalk]
HAINES: The term “freak,” to me, is more damaging. Because to me, it harkens those years back to school where someone was labeled a “freak” because they were different. They were other. And then it gave people permission socially to treat them almost like a pariah. It like dehumanizes someone. So, hearing the “Talafreako” bothers me more. And it's not because it's offensive to Talarico. It's for all the people listening that are hearing the shame-laced accusation of ‘if you are different, then you can be a target.’
SYMONE: Yes!
HAINES: And that is such a dangerous message to be sending.
(…)
