‘The View’ Gets Emotional Debating Hunter Biden’s Controversial State Dinner Appearance: “He Should Have Sat This One Out”

While Ana Navarro may identify as a Republican, she went against the majority of her party (and some of her fellow View co-hosts) when she defended the presence of President Joe Biden‘s son, Hunter Biden, at the state dinner last week, which came just days after he accepted a plea deal on gun and tax charges.

During a Hot Topics segment on Monday morning’s (June 26) episode of The View, Navarro — who has known the president for more than two decades — pointed out that he has lost two of his other children, therefore, he will likely go to great lengths to protect his son.

“The Hunter Biden story, the scandal, the this, the that — it’s also the story of a father’s love, and Joe Biden has never and will never give up on his son Hunter, and will never treat him lesser than,” she said. “He is a father first; take it or leave it. That’s who he is, that is part of his heart.”

Navarro continued, “There was 380 people at this dinner. It’s not like Hunter was sitting at Merrick Garland’s lap. It was a bunch of people … and I think that the reason that Hunter Biden has been able to get out of addiction is because Joe Biden embraced him entirely the entire time.”

Sunny Hostin then noted that we need to have more “compassion” for Hunter, who has struggled with addiction for years.

“I mean, people are talking about ‘Well, this is nepotism,’ and perhaps it is, and I hate nepotism,” she said. “I think things should be earned and not given, but no one wants to talk about the fact that Ivanka [Trump] got, you know, three Chinese patents after her dinner with President Xi from China at Mar-a-Lago.”

Hostin added, “This is, I think, like you said, a father trying to keep his son, who suffers from addiction, close.”

Meanwhile, both Sara Haines and Alyssa Farah Griffin felt that, given the timing, Hunter “should have sat this one out.”

“He just got charged with a felony charge, misdemeanors, you’re going to a dinner where your dad is front and center, he’s trying to campaign,” Haines said. “Like, sit it out. Sit at home just for a minute. Just take a seat. This is about your dad and your family.”

Griffin — who agreed with her co-host — pointed to the “bad” optics of Hunter’s appearance at the dinner.

“This is something that I think a lot of Americans look at and they’re like, ‘They’re the elites, putting on their tuxes, going to dinners, If I was charged with a felony and two misdemeanors, I would not be at a state dinner with the most powerful people on the planet,'” she said.

The former White House staffer added, “I think the optics were bad, and I guarantee that Biden’s staffers were trying to talk him out of being there, and Merrick Garland, who’s tried to remain above the fray in this, and is now seen hobnobbing with them.”

Navarro later hit back at the “troll machine” on Twitter after she was attacked online for defending Hunter on the show. Along with a clip of her View comments, Navarro wrote, “Imagine calling yourself the ‘family values party’ & being outraged I’m talking about a father’s unconditional love for his child. Imagine thinking a dad not giving up on his kid, is a bad thing.”

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