The View is firmly Team Lizzo. The daytime talk show deconstructed a frivolous feud on today’s episode, ripping conservatives for their dramatic response to Lizzo playing James Madison’s antique flute after being invited to do so by the Library of Congress.
The conversation kicked off after Joy Behar explained some critics were “annoyed” by Lizzo’s performance with the crystal flute, which was given to the former president over 200 years ago. Lizzo — who is not only an international pop star, but also a classically trained flutist — played the instrument onstage during her Wednesday (Sept. 28) concert in Washington, D.C., much to the chagrin of her detractors.
“These Trumpers need to have the same reverence for the Constitution as they do for the flute. They’re all up in arms,” Behar snapped, while Sunny Hostin took a more historical approach in her response.
“I think part of it that makes history so fantastic is that now we have the first African American woman who, her name is Carla Hayden, she’s the first African American and first woman to lead the Library of Congress,” Hostin said.
“She invited Lizzo to come and do this and that makes it history, of course,” she continued, before pointing to the flack Lizzo has received, including a tweet from Greg Price, who was identified as a “right-wing strategist” by USA Today.
Hostin shared his tweet with the panel, reading aloud, “‘The Library of Congress really took out a 200-year-old flute that belonged to James Madison just so Lizzo could twerk with it. They degrade our history.'”
Hostin scoffed at Price’s words, telling the panel, “Well, James Madison owned 100 slaves. That’s a degradation of history, right, and he still became the president. This is kind of a full-circle moment for American history.”
She continued, “This is the promise of America. You have a slave’s ancestor playing the 200-year-[old] flute by someone who was a slave master.”
Even Alyssa Farah Griffin — The View‘s conservative voice — spoke out against critics within her party for unfairly attacking Lizzo. When Behar asked her to “defender [her] side,” Griffin replied, “if you have the time to be outraged by this, you probably need a hobby. I would suggest the flute.”
Sometimes, the truth really does hurt.
The View airs weekdays at 11/10c on ABC.
