Bona Fide News Is A Bona Fide Farce: ‘The View’ Repeatedly Claimed Trump Would Steal The Midterms

For over a year ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, “The View” — ABC’s purported “bona fide news program” — repeatedly claimed that President Trump would steal the midterm elections. Without evidence, they made wild assertions that he would use the National Guard and ICE to take over voting and counting facilities, hack the voting systems and change the results, use Social Security Numbers to control how people voted, and even claimed people had been murdered as part of the plot.

Obviously, none of that came to pass, yet “The View” has not answered for its lies or the consequences that could stem from them.

In July of 2025, “The View” compared the ICE raids in California and subsequent reinforcement by the National Guard to “1938” Germany and the Nazis who were “just following orders.” “I think he is trying to use the might have the military to suppress peoples’ rights. I think that is very clear. When you use the military against your own citizens, that is a sign of fascism,” Sunny Hostin declared.

By October, that animosity toward the National Guard had morphed into claims that it was a “pretext” and dry run for a military takeover during the midterms the following year. “This is a pretext to stop the next election! That’s what I think it is,” Joy Behar shouted at the time. “And if they stop us from voting, that’s the one thing people have.”

Their hysteria grew, and later that month they claimed the White House renovation proved Trump never intended to leave the White House. “Well, they will win if they cheat. That’s what they’re going to do,” Behar claimed. “If he gets this $230 million, is going to be used to renovate a White House which he never intends to leave!” Hostin screeched.

Intent on pushing the stolen election lies, “The View” sought to give their viewers a Halloween fright that year by promoting Governor Gavin Newsom’s (D-CA) election fearmongering:

HOSTIN: And so, when Gavin Newsom is saying, I am concerned about this, I think we need to listen! That’s the problem with this country! We don’t want to say the quiet part out loud! We don’t want to challenge authority! We don’t want to challenge authoritarianism! Silence — there’s no place for silence when the democracy is under attack!

BEHAR: I just want to say one thing. I don’t think Gavin Newsom would be saying this if Donald Trump hasn’t thrown in the gauntlet in the first place. It’s not like he’s doing it to attack.

In December, ABC moderator Whoopi Goldberg suggested the $1,776 “warrior dividends” were a bribe by Trump so service members would follow illegal orders like those to steal an election.

With the start of the midterm election year in January, Hostin claimed the ICE involved deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti were part of a plot to steal the elections:

I think I know why. You know, I actually think that this is a coordinated effort to steal the 2026 election – elections. That’s what I think, because if you think about it, um, Pam Bondi – Remember what happened in Minnesota with Pretti and Good. Pam Bondi sent a letter to the governor, to Minnesota and said that they would withdraw ICE agents if they provided all of their voter data. And they’ve also asked every single state for voter registration formation, voter data. And at least 11 states like Texas have complied so far.

As the weeks passed and the election drew closer, “The View’s” messaging got more ominous as they started to hint at the need for political violence to stop Trump’s purported election theft. Hostin even called for an open “rebellion” in the style of Disney’s “Andor,” which was open, violent, and deadly.

On the Monday before the election, they brought on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her podcast co-host Kara Swisher to lend to the election-theft conspiracy theories. They couldn’t spell out a specific plot but gave a broad warning that there could be intimidation by ICE agents, the hacking and changing of results, and the use of mind control via Social Security Numbers.

Election Day itself was not immune to the fear mongering as they seemed to hint that Trump was responsible for the ballots being too thick for the voting machines in Westchester County, New York.

None of this came to pass. It was their biggest concern for over a year, and they haven’t mentioned it since Election Day. Not even praise for overcoming the alleged theft with sheer turnout numbers.

Their conspiracy peddling can have real-world consequences. If a particularly unstable individual took them at their word and thought the future of the country could be stolen and their rights removed by a dictator Trump, they could be spurred on to do something heinous. Luckily, that didn’t happen in this case, but who knows how far they’ll take their incendiary rhetoric in future elections.

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Nicholas C. Fondacaro is the associate editor for the Media Research Center and NewsBusters.

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