Joy Behar, co-host of *The View*, has found herself in the hot seat after making inflammatory and wildly inaccurate claims about billionaire Elon Musk. In a controversial segment on Thursday’s show, Behar accused Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and Twitter, of being “pro-apartheid,” a “foreign agent,” and even an “enemy of the state.”
Behar’s outburst began with a questionable attack on Musk’s upbringing, stating, “The guy was not born in this country, who was born under apartheid in South Africa.” She then escalated her rant, asserting that Musk was “pro-apartheid” and even went so far as to label him a “foreign agent” who posed a threat to the U.S. Behar’s comments, dripping with a venomous tone, seemed to suggest that Musk’s South African roots somehow made him a subversive figure.
However, just moments after the show returned from a commercial break, Behar appeared to realize she had gone too far. In a rather awkward attempt to walk back her reckless accusations, she said, “Now I’m getting some flack because I said that Musk was pro-apartheid. I don’t really know for sure if he was.”
Behar’s backpedaling was clumsy at best. She half-heartedly tried to justify her outburst by saying, “He grew up at that time when apartheid was in full bloom, before the great Nelson Mandela fixed that. He was around at that time, but maybe he was, maybe he wasn’t — he might have been a young guy, too.”
She then added a sarcastic remark, joking, “So, don’t be suing me, okay Elon?” and further claimed, “They’re allowed to say any lie they want but we have to be really strict.”
Musk, who was born in Pretoria, South Africa, in 1971, was a child during the final years of apartheid. While Behar’s statements about his youth were at least somewhat grounded in fact, her characterization of Musk’s political views was completely unfounded and unsubstantiated. Musk moved to the U.S. in the early ’90s and became a naturalized American citizen in 2002. To label him as “pro-apartheid” is not only misleading but irresponsible.
It didn’t take long for social media users to react to Behar’s remarks, with many expressing their disbelief and frustration at her baseless accusations. One Twitter user quipped, “The libs are anti-immigration now,” attaching a clown emoji to the post, which quickly gained traction. Another Twitter user joked, “This is pure gold. Elon Musk has transformed Joy Behar into a critic of immigration.”
Commentators on the platform were quick to call Behar a “bigot” and “toxic,” while others even expressed a desire for Musk to take legal action against *The View* and its parent company, ABC.
Behar’s attempt to backtrack and joke off her inflammatory statements only drew more criticism, with many seeing her as desperate to save face after being caught in a web of untruths. Her original comments were clearly intended to undermine Musk’s reputation, but it appears her lack of evidence and reckless rhetoric have only made her look foolish.
In the end, Behar’s attack on Musk serves as a reminder of the dangerous and divisive nature of the political discourse on some mainstream TV platforms. Rather than fostering constructive conversation, figures like Behar seem content to sling mud at high-profile figures without regard for facts or fairness. Unfortunately for Behar, her attempt to “clarify” her remarks only added to the growing list of her gaffes—much to the amusement of online observers who are increasingly calling out her hypocrisy and ignorance.
