Condoleezza Rice Feuds With ‘The View’ Hosts: “Let Me Finish!”

On today’s episode of The View, guest host and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice ignited multiple feuds with the show’s hosts over topics like Republicans’ response to the Jan. 6 insurrection and the teaching of critical race theory in schools.

The panel kicked things off by discussing Mitch McConnell’s recent statement urging Americans to “let bygones be bygones” when it comes to the Capitol Hill insurrection. Rice began by asserting that the insurrection was wrong, “full-stop.” However, after the election results were certified that night, she said that she had newfound faith in her institutions and “the people who protect them.”

“[McConnell may be referencing that] it’s time to move on in a lot of ways,” Rice continued, adding that politicians should focus on “kitchen table issues” like inflation and the price of gas, and move onto the next generation of leadership.

Sunny Hostin chimed in, saying, “I think it’s really politically expedient for Mitch McConnell to say, ‘Lets move on, let’s move on,’ especially when the former, twice-impeached, disgraced president enjoys attacking [him]. But the problem is, the past will become prologue if we don’t find out what happened on Jan. 6.”

Rice argued that “our institutions need to be upheld,” telling Sunny, “let me finish” when the host attempted to elaborate.

“When you have 80 percent of Republicans wanting to see Trump run in 2024?” Hostin replied. Rice repeated that she was a political scientist, saying, “Unless I can see the questions that were actually in that poll, unless I can see the assumptions were in that poll, I’m not going to take for granted that poll was great.”

Sunny pressed the guest host about not trusting Quinnipiac, to which Rice replied, “I said I’m a political scientist. I understand polls,” before reiterating that American leaders should be more concerned with issues impacting everyday Americans.

During the next segment, she clashed with Hostin and moderator Whoopi Goldberg when the panel discussed whether critical race theory should be taught in schools (and how much input parents should have). Rice, who noted that she grew up in segregated Birmingham, Alabama, said that she worries about finding a middle ground between making white people feel guilty for “everything that happened in the past” and making Black people feel disempowered.

“I would like Black kids to be completely empowered to know they are beautiful in their Blackness. But in order to do that, I don’t need to make white kids feel bad for being white,” she continued. “This is a conversation that I think has gone in the wrong direction.”

Goldberg pushed back against Rice, arguing, “The whole idea of teaching history is so we don’t repeat it.”

Rice replied that history is complex, and that how we teach it is important. “There’s no way to hide that white people owned Black people,” Goldberg shot back.

“There’s been a certain rollback of history,” Hostin added. “People want to hide history… And when we teach children about real history, I think that is when we will have true racial reconciliation.”

The View airs weekdays on ABC at 11/10c. Scroll up to watch a clip from today’s episode.

Where to watch The View