The View’s Underwood: Trump Squandering 2nd Chance After Murder Attempt

Nicholas Fondacaro
March 12th, 2026 4:46 PM

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Comedian Sheryl Underwood was passing through ABC’s The View this week as she took a break from her “I Need a Job” tour. And given her outrageous and unhinged comments most of the week, she certainly seemed like she was fishing for a job on the show. In a Wednesday appearance on the show’s Behind the Table podcast, Underwood grotesquely suggested President Trump was squandering the second chance at life God gave him after the failed assassination attempt that saw him shot in the head. She also admitted that she’s actually more of a Democrat than the “Republican” she’s pitched as.

Amid a conversation with The View executive producer and podcast host Brian Teta about the different kinds of Republicans they’ve had on to fill in, Underwood said that she saw it as important for her to be an anti-Trump voice in the party and equated herself to those who told President Nixon to resign. “If those men had not went to Nixon and said, ‘we're not gonna back you,’ okay, he would have still been in office. You have to give the leaders some guardrails,” she argued.

Underwood went on to suggest that Trump hadn’t learned anything from the assassination attempt and had not become a better person, squandering the second chance God gave him:

And you would think that if Trump having the situation that he had, wouldn't that touch your heart and make you a better person? God has let you live. Lead better, don't dig into your troublesome side. Let me say that. Don't dig into that, don't dig your heels into that. Become a better leader. You know, and look at the other presidents who may have been doing something crazy. And then they thought, ‘I gotta change. I gotta be a better leader.’ You're the leader of the free world. Live up to that.

 

 

She immediately followed that up by saying Trump had made “comedy more lucrative because he does crazy stuff all the time that we can joke about.”

If you’re wondering how a “Republican” could say something like that, well, it’s because Underwood was more a Democrat. She even admitted to it during the podcast:

UNDERWOOD: But also, I think with my political point of view, I'm probably really a blue dog Democrat.

BRIAN TETA: Okay.

UNDERWOOD: Born in the South, grew up in the Midwest. I'm probably a blue dog Democrat, but I'm a registered Republican, and I believe I'm the person that need to be in the Republican Party going, ‘who decided we can do this? We are going to lose. This is the stupidest thing I've ever heard.’

 

 

She went on to demand that the party become more “woke,” and equate modern wokeness to when Republicans outlawed slavery:

But there used to be a time, I'm like an Arthur Fletcher, he's the father of affirmative action. He's the one that brought affirmative action to Nixon. I'm like a Senator Edward Brooks. I'm like a, you know, Dr. King. I'm like when Republicanism was different. When you hear people say, ‘oh, don't be woke.’ Well, the Republican Party was woke, when it battled against slavery, it was woke when it championed women's rights. That's when we were woke in a good way.

Further along in the podcast, Underwood seemed to allude to allegations that she had misrepresented her military service earlier in the week when using it as a cudgel to denounce the strike on Iran. The allegations pointed to inconsistencies with her claims that she took part in the First Gulf War, but the Department of War webpage highlighting her service made no mention of it.

In her defense of herself, Underwood argued that one didn’t need to be deployed in theater to take part in an operation:

UNDERWOOD: And for people that say, ‘well, she didn't do this, she do that.’ One thing I want people to know, it's a name of something. Because what's this thing that they - what did they name it now? Hegseth, what did they call it? Something Epic Fury.

TETA: Epic Fury. Operation: Epic Fury.

UNDERWOOD: Okay, when it's called Operation This, This, it doesn't mean you go to that location. It means you're under that thing, right? So, for me being under that thing.

 

 

True. But again, the only operations the DoW webpage (published in 2022) noted she took part in were “in support of several exercises that included two Exercise Reforgers [sic] in West Germany and Team Spirit in South Korea.” There was nothing that even suggested she was aiding the First Gulf War from back home or elsewhere.

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

ABC’s Behind the Table
March 12, 2026
07:46

(…)

SHERYL UNDERWOOD: But also, I think with my political point of view, I'm probably really a blue dog Democrat.

BRIAN TETA: Okay.

UNDERWOOD: Born in the South, grew up in the Midwest. I'm probably a blue dog Democrat, but I'm a registered Republican, and I believe I'm the person that need to be in the Republican Party going, ‘who decided we can do this? We are going to lose. This is the stupidest thing I've ever heard.’

But there used to be a time, I'm like an Arthur Fletcher, he's the father of affirmative action. He's the one that brought affirmative action to Nixon. I'm like a Senator Edward Brooks. I'm like a, you know, Dr. King. I'm like when Republicanism was different. When you hear people say, ‘oh, don't be woke.’ Well, the Republican Party was woke, when it battled against slavery, it was woke when it championed women's rights. That's when we were woke in a good way.

TETA: That's a really good point. And I think it's interesting just in this world, people want to throw a label on everybody -

UNDERWOOD: Yes.

TETA: - but there's nuance to all this.

UNDERWOOD: Absolutely.

TETA: We've had all these Republican guest hosts while Alyssa’s out on maternity leave. And the reaction from the audience has been so different because, you know, they’re used to Alyssa, who feels a certain way about the President. We've had people on the show that have been big fans of the President. Now you, a longtime Republican, you've been speaking out against what you think are mistakes that they're going on right now.

UNDERWOOD: Absolutely, he should be - I - I - Listen. I - Once you become the president, then I will back your play. But I think we have a right as Americans to say to our leaders, ‘you're wrong. And I can't wait to get to the ballot box to tell you you're wrong. I have to tell you you're wrong now.’ If those men had not went to Nixon and said, ‘we're not gonna back you,’ okay, he would have still been in office. You have to give the leaders some guardrails.

And you would think that if Trump having the situation that he had, wouldn't that touch your heart and make you a better person? God has let you live. Lead better, don't dig into your troublesome side. Let me say that. Don't dig into that, don't dig your heels into that. Become a better leader. You know, and look at the other presidents who may have been doing something crazy. And then they thought, ‘I gotta change. I gotta be a better leader.’ You're the leader of the free world. Live up to that.

TETA: Judd Apatow recently said that Trump has made comedy harder because things feel so serious now. What's your take on this? Is the political climate changed comedy for you at all or the way you approach it?

UNDERWOOD: No, I think I think really, we're talking about specifically President Trump?

TETA: I think that he was, yes.

UNDERWOOD: I think he made comedy more lucrative because he does crazy stuff all the time that we can joke about.

(…)

11:38

TETA: You’ve been great this week is you've been able to share your perspective on what's happening in Iran, and it was interesting to hear from you because you served.

UNDERWOOD: Yes.

TETAL You were in the Air Force Reserve.

UNDERWOOD: Yes.

TETA: How has service shaped the way you look at something like this?

UNDERWOOD: You know, I saw pictures of my dad and his brothers in their Army uniform. My mother married a man who was stationed at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska. And that's how we got to Castle Air Force Base. And then I went into the Reserve. I met my husband, he was active duty. And I went into the Reserve a little bit after that. He proposed a Maxwell Air Force Base. I went in at Travis Air Force Base.

And for people that say, ‘well, she didn't do this, she do that.’ One thing I want people to know, it's a name of something. Because what's this thing that they - what did they name it now? Hegseth, what did they call it? Something Epic Fury.

TETA: Epic Fury. Operation: Epic Fury.

UNDERWOOD: Okay, when it's called Operation This, This, it doesn't mean you go to that location. It means you're under that thing, right? So, for me being under that thing.

I always wanted to serve my country. And that's also where I found that I could entertain. I went in thinking if I wanted to be part of MWR, as morale, welfare and recreation. Morale, welfare, recreation. And I thought I would be able to transfer from a medic to doing that.

What I learned is the troops need us. They need to get mail. They need to get good thoughts from us. They may not agree with the mission, but they put their hand up to uphold the Constitution. So, for me, what I loved about being of service in the various ways that I served, it shapes your life. 'Cause you meet people from other places, and you have to depend on somebody you don't know, or don't agree with how they believe, but you got to come together for everybody to come home.

(…)

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