Joy Behar: 'We Should All Be' 'Embarrassed to Be an American'

Nicholas Fondacaro
June 26th, 2026 3:34 PM

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Joy Behar probably wasn’t a big fan of Lee Greenwood’s music, because during Friday’s The View, she lashed out at the country who made her a multimillionaire and admitted she was “embarrassed” to an American. Not only did she double down on that comment, but she also proclaimed “we should all be” “embarrassed” to be Americans.

As a counter to President Trump’s recent speech praising America on the National Mall ahead of America’s 250th birthday, Behar tapped a soundbite of comedian Larry David’s hatred of America because of the UFC event at the White House. And Behar agreed:

DAVID: It was a travesty, yeah. What else can you say about it? It was embarrassing. I was embarrassed to be an American, yeah.

[Cuts back to live]

[Applause]

BEHAR: So, I have -- I'm very good friends with Larry David, and so I'm not going to -- I think he's right in many ways. I mean, you listen to Trump. We have -- we used to have friends around the world. Now we don't have them anymore.

 

 

If Behar’s animosity toward America wasn’t apparent enough, she doubled down later in the segment as they neared a commercial break.

“I have to say that I'm embarrassed for this country the way he's been treating immigrants,” she added. “And, of course, Larry is embarrassed to be an American, in that way we should all be.”

 

 

Co-host Sunny Hostin also shared her distaste for America by going on an unhinged rant condemning the UFC event at the White House:

HOSTIN: And I think that's what he was saying because they were asking him specifically about the UFC event on the White House lawn.

BEHAR: That's right.

HOSTIN: That embarrassed me! I thought it was tackyyyyyy! I just thought it was trashy! I just, you know, they, they, they, you know, uttered a slur against our former first lady. My forever first lady, Michelle Obama! There was plenty to be embarrassed about about that UFC.

Hostin also cited some unnamed poll of foreigners to claim America wasn’t the best country in the world:

And, you know, he's getting on stage and saying that, you know, we are no longer the laughing stock of, of, of, of the world and we are the best country in the world. Well, 76 percent of adult as cross 36 nations that were surveyed have zero confidence in Trump. Like, they -- you know, our standing in the world because of this president has dropped and that is just a fact.

 

 

What else would you expect from an ungrateful multimillionaire TV personality who still demands reparations from multiple countries (while refusing to find or repay the slaves her family owned). For more background on Hostin’s hatred for America, earlier in the month, she called America a “failed experiment,” and she previously suggested Ghana was a better country.

Co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin countered their anti-Americanism by pointing to the World Cup tourists who loved America more than them. She described how “watching people come from all over the world and discover things about America is giving me absolute life.”

“Scottish fans literally drank Boston out of beer. Europeans went into a Waffle House and were like, ‘this is the greatest experience of my life.’ We are still a great nation. We are a strong nation. We have culture and it is Waffle House,” she exclaimed.

 

 

Hey Joy and Sunny, let us know if you need help packing your bags.

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

ABC’s The View
June 26, 2026
11:02:53 a.m. Eastern

(…)

JOY BEHAR: Here's what Larry David said when he asked about the -- he was asked about the UFC event on the White House lawn earlier this month that kicked off the 250th celebration. Watch.

[Cuts to video]

LARRY DAVID: It was a travesty, yeah. What else can you say about it? It was embarrassing. I was embarrassed to be an American, yeah.

[Cuts back to live]

[Applause]

BEHAR: So, I have -- I'm very good friends with Larry David, and so I'm not going to -- I think he's right in many ways. I mean, you listen to Trump. We have -- we used to have friends around the world. Now we don't have them anymore. So what is he talking about?

ANA NAVARRO: You know, I was thinking about this and there's some people that are going to take issue with Larry David saying something like that but there's so many countries where if you said something like that about being embarrassed by that country, you would end up dead. Places like Iran, places like Cuba.

BEHAR: Nicaragua.

NAVARRO: Places like North Korea. Places like Nicaragua where I fled.

So, I absolutely support and respect his right to have his feelings about this country and to say them out loud. That's what makes America America.

BEHAR: Because we're secure about it, that's why.

[Applause]

NAVARRO: Because we believe in freedom. Because we believe in freedom.

SARA HAINES: Well, I also -- the only thing I hear, when he says I'm embarrassed, I say don't give Trump that power, because Trump is here for eight years out of 250. That's a blip in time. And I refuse to hand over my patriotism and my pride of this country because even the global community knows that Americans are not happy.

So, I would not decide that I represent Donald Trump as an American out in the world. He happens to be the current president and that's what it is.

NAVARRO: You can be very embarrassed and mortified and horrified by Donald Trump.

[Applause]

[Crosstalk]

HAINES: By Donald Trump, not the country. That's what I won't hand over to him.

SUNNY HOSTIN: And I think that's what he was saying because they were asking him specifically about the UFC event on the White House lawn.

BEHAR: That's right.

HOSTIN: That embarrassed me! I thought it was tackyyyyyy! I just thought it was trashy! I just, you know, they, they, they, you know, uttered a slur against our former first lady. My forever first lady, Michelle Obama! There was plenty to be embarrassed about about that UFC.

HAINES: Yes.

HOSTIN: And, you know, he's getting on stage and saying that, you know, we are no longer the laughing stock of, of, of, of the world and we are the best country in the world. Well, 76 percent of adult as cross 36 nations that were surveyed have zero confidence in Trump. Like, they -- you know, our standing in the world because of this president has dropped and that is just a fact

And so, I can't say, you to, I'm embarrassed to be American, but I am embarrassed by this administration. I am embarrassed by Donald Trump and I am absolutely embarrassed by what happened on the White House lawn. I thought it was trashy.

[Applause]

ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: Well, we talked about it before but the country is bigger than any one president and the presidency is bigger than any one president. I am very, very proud to be an American and I have been taking in the 250th anniversary celebration mostly by enjoying the World Cup. I don't know a thing about soccer or football.

HOSTIN: And all the good-looking players.

FARAH GRIFFIN: Good-looking players but watching people come from all over the world and discover things about America is giving me absolute life.

There was a Japanese fan who basically posted this, I mean, I can't even read you the whole thing but he discovered unlimited salsa and chips and it was like, it just opened his eyes to a new world.

HAINES: He will have to buy two seats when he gets home.

FARAH GRIFFIN: He’s quoted as saying, “There's no number of baskets I would refuse. The trust of the nation is in its salsa.”

Scottish fans literally drank Boston out of beer. Europeans went into a Waffle House and were like, ‘this is the greatest experience of my life.’ We are still a great nation. We are a strong nation. We have culture and it is Waffle House!

It just reminds us, the World Cup kind of feels like there's so much that unites the world than divides us and we should look for those moments, because it could feel so dark around us. But there's this beauty of things that can bring us together.

NAVARRO: We're a fat nation. All those Europeans will have to take GLP-1s back home.

(…)

11:09:07 a.m. Eastern

BEHAR: I have to say that I'm embarrassed for this country the way he's been treating immigrants.

HOSTIN: Yeah.

BEHAR: He's been separating kids from their families. He's been doing – I mean, my family came over here like a hundred years ago. Italians came here.

You know, Italian Americans are some of the most patriotic people in the country. And one of the reasons is because they came from poverty in southern Italy and came here and they were like, ‘America, God bless America.’ You know, and now he treats immigrants the way he treats them. And, of course, Larry is embarrassed to be an American, in that way we should all be.

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