Joy Behar, a longtime co-host of ABC’s daytime talk show The View, offered uncommon praise for three conservative House Republicans after they spoke out in defense of the women who say they were abused by Jeffrey Epstein.
“Wasn’t it heartening to see Marjorie Taylor Greene and Nancy Mace and Lauren Boebert sticking up for the Epstein victims?” Behar asked her fellow co-hosts during a segment about the convicted sex trafficker. “I was happy to see that. Usually, I’m not on their side. Because they’re women and they care. Good for them.”
The exchange followed on-air references to members of Congress who have publicly supported former President Donald Trump amid renewed scrutiny over his past associations with Epstein. Behar later criticized those male politicians who continue to back Trump, saying, “The men, these senators and congressmen who support him in everything he says, no matter what he does, they’re behind him. It’s unbelievable.”
Alyssa Farah Griffin, another co-host, noted that Rep. Nancy Mace had met personally with survivors and was photographed leaving that meeting in tears. “She was hysterical,” Behar added. Sunny Hostin, a former prosecutor and current co-host, said she has spoken to many survivors of sexual abuse in her legal work and emphasized the lasting impact of trauma. “These women will try and get through it but they will never get over it,” Hostin said. “They are surviving trauma to the degree that I don’t think many people can understand. And that’s why I do think this has captured America.”
The remarks marked a rare moment of public commendation from Behar toward lawmakers often at odds with the show’s largely liberal panel. Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Lauren Boebert of Colorado are known for their outspoken conservative stances and frequent clashes with Democratic figures and media hosts; Mace, a South Carolina Republican, has at times broken with her party on high‑profile votes.
The discussion on The View came amid ongoing public attention to Epstein’s victims and to questions about figures who socialized with or supported people in Epstein’s circle. The program airs weekdays on ABC at 11 a.m. Eastern.
Reporters and producers compiling the segment cited recent public statements and appearances by the lawmakers. The comments prompted brief on-air acknowledgment of the victims’ experiences and renewed focus on bipartisan responses to sexual‑abuse survivors in the wake of the Epstein prosecutions.