‘The View’s Sunny Hostin “Not Surprised” That Republican “White Men” Were Engaging In Racist Group Chat: “Trump’s Rise, In Part, Was Based In Racism And White Supremacy”

The View co-host Sunny Hostin is “not surprised” that a group chat largely consisting of Republican “white men” would contain racist, antisemitic, misogynistic, and homophobic text messages.

Leaders of a group called Young Republicans were outed this week for exchanging offensive text messages in a group chat, in which they referred to Black people as “the watermelon people,” called rape “epic,” and spoke about putting their political opponents in gas chambers, per Politico. While many Democrats and Republicans have denounced their actions, Vice President J.D. Vance brushed it off as “kids [doing] stupid things,” despite most of the participants being between the ages of 24 and 35.

On this morning’s episode of The View, Hostin explained why she was “not surprised” that Republican men would engage in such horrific rhetoric.

“I hate to say it, but I’m not surprised that that chat exists,” she said. “I wasn’t surprised that men, adults ages 25 to 35, white men, were speaking like that. They checked every white supremacist bigot box. They were antisemitic, they were misogynistic, they were homophobic, they were racist. They were dumb.”

While Joy Behar initially echoed Hostin’s sentiments, she was later instructed to inform the co-hosts that there were some women in the group chat, and that it’s not clear whether everyone was white.

According to Hostin, her “lived experience as an afro-Latina” in the United States helps her “tell the uncomfortable truths about this country with real clarity.”

“Trump’s rise, in part, was based in racism and white supremacy,” she said. “When I said that, and those of my friends that said that, we were accused of hyperbole and racism ourselves. I wish that wasn’t true. But it is true.”

She continued, “When I say that white supremacy is thriving on the right, when I say the future of the Republican Party embraces white supremacy, please believe me the first time and only look at this chat as your proof that it is alive and well in the Republican Party.”

The View airs on weekdays at 11/10c on ABC.