‘The View’s’ Abby Huntsman Blasts Trump Campaign: White House Can’t ‘Tell The Media What To Do’

Abby Huntsman of The View had some pushback for the campaign of President Donald Trump and its request that networks decline to book certain guests who have been critical of the president in the past and accused him of colluding with Russia. According to a report in HuffPost. Huntsman was reacting to a memo sent out by the Trump campaign’s communications director Tim Murtaugh which contained a list of high-profile Democrat lawmakers and media figures, along with the recommendation that television shows decline to book them.

“The White House is not in a position to tell the media what to do,” said Huntsman, who previously co-hosted Fox & Friends.

In the memo, Murtaugh accused Democrats like Reps. Adam Schiff (Calif.), Eric Swalwell (Calif.), Richard Blumenthal (Conn.) and Jerry Nadler (N.Y.) of “lying to the American people” and “making false and outlandish claims” regarding the narrative that then-candidate Trump and his campaign worked with Russian operatives to rig the 2016 presidential election. Following the announcement of Attorney General William Barr summarizing the report on special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into alleged Russian election meddling, and confirming that it contained no evidence of collusion, the GOP has been quick to accuse prominent Democrats of knowingly spreading falsehoods during the 22-month probe.

On Tuesday’s episode of the show, Huntsman suggested that the Trump campaign calling for the show to blacklist Democrats smacks of partisanship and hypocrisy.

“Should we block White House folks that come on shows that say… ‘alternative facts,’ or, according to Rudy Giuliani, ‘truth isn’t truth?'”

Huntsman went on to suggest that Trump is passing up a golden opportunity to unite the nation after nearly two years of back and forth sniping over what might or might not appear in the final report from Mueller. But, she added, “what we continue to see is that never happens.”

And although Huntsman acknowledged that there are a lot of media figures who have some explaining to do for their positions on the Russiagate investigation over the past two years, she found the Trump team’s efforts to “double-down politically” in the wake of the investigation’s closure discomfiting.

“I think it’s a dangerous place to be when you’re attacking the media that way.”

Murtaugh’s letter, in addition to listing several Democrat lawmakers also suggested networks ban Democratic National Party Chair Tom Perez and former CIA Director John Brennan. The letter went on to quote remarks many of the aforementioned figures have made and urged television networks to “employ basic journalistic standards” in deciding whether to book them or not.