RED-HANDED

‘The View’s’ Abby Huntsman Takes Victory Lap After Catching Ivanka Trump in ‘First Public Lie’

‘There are a lot of journalists who do not ask the tough questions and you deserve props for this,’ Meghan McCain told her.

By Matt Wilstein & Andrew KirellMar 01, 2019

The news this week that former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly was “ordered” by President Donald Trump to push through his son-in-law Jared Kushner’s top-secret security clearance last year—against the CIA’s recommendations—caught The View’s eye on Friday.

That’s because when co-host Abby Huntsman interviewed Ivanka Trump last month, she told a very different story.

Asked by Huntsman whether she and her husband were given “special treatment” by the president, Ivanka Trump said, “Absolutely not,” adding, “There were anonymous leaks about there being issues, but the president had no involvement pertaining to my clearance or my husband's clearance, zero.”

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After playing the clip, moderator Joy Behar asked, “How many of you at this table believe that?” Nobody raised a hand.

“Well, that's why I wanted to ask the question, because, one, she doesn't do interviews really ever because she doesn't—I don't think she likes answering these questions, which she should never be exempt from that,” Huntsman said. “She is not Tiffany Trump by the way, she is a senior adviser to the president of the United States, and this was a very relevant question.”

While it “wasn't breaking news at the time,” Huntsman said she “knew it could be” if more information came out as it did this week. “I was one, shocked that she was willing to answer it, but two, she was so clearly defending the fact that her father had zero involvement at all.” She said it was an example of “the president putting his own interests above the security of the country.”

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“Props to Abby for catching her in her first public lie,” Meghan McCain said later. “And you deserve to take a victory lap, as I told you last night, over this. I think there are a lot of journalists who do not ask the tough questions, and you deserve props for this.”

When Behar suggested that Ivanka Trump may have thought Huntsman, a former Fox & Friends Weekend host, would go “easy” on her, McCain seemed to take offense. “I don't know what she thought,” McCain said. “I don't actually care what she thought.”

“Again, these aren't necessarily tough questions,” Huntsman added. “These are ones she should be able to answer.”

At the end of the segment, after they read the obligatory denial from Kushner’s lawyer, Behar asked, “Who are you going to believe, The New York Times or the daughter of a criminal enterprise?”