'The View' weighs in on Melania Trump's public denouncement of deputy national security adviser

By
Allie Yang
November 14, 2018, 4:19 PM ET
4 min read

"The View" weighed in on headlines that the normally very private first lady publicly called for the deputy national security adviser to be dismissed.

Stephanie Grisham, the first lady's spokeswoman, released a statement Tuesday about Mira Ricardel’s removal from her post at the National Security Council, saying: “It is the position of the Office of the First Lady that she no longer deserves the honor of serving in this White House."

Sunny Hostin looked to a history of first ladies who used their husband’s ear and worked behind the scenes to make changes like these, including Hillary Clinton, Nancy Reagan and Abigail Adams.

Melania Trump publicly calls for White House aide's firing

Though she pointed out, "There isn’t a history of the first lady putting out a public statement, an official statement saying something like that."

"I don’t know if it’s because her husband conducts business that way, out in the open, or maybe it’s the age that we’re in, the social media age," Hostin added.

While Meghan McCain said "on some level" she respects Melania Trump for her choice to put out the stinging statement.

However, she pointed to reports that Ricardel’s firing was connected to the first lady’s recent trip to Africa, where she was criticized for her choice of attire.

Melania Trump, on 4-nation Africa tour, gives ABC News exclusive interview

"If this woman is telling her something she doesn’t want to hear, maybe she should start listening to things [she] doesn’t want to hear," McCain said. "In my experience… you gotta surround yourself with people who aren’t just going to be yes men."

Abby Huntsman suggested Ricardel's ousting may be more a result of the West Wing's problem with leaks, citing other reporting.

"What Melania’s accused this woman of is leaking... and this white house is famous for leaks," Huntsman said. "And the people who are in that White House, they still haven’t gotten control of that. And so there’s gotta be frustration with Melania, I think she feels like this woman has been leaking about her too."

Joy Behar weighed in the office of the first lady’s use of "honor"

"Tell that to Michael Cohen, Sean Spicer, see how honored they were to work in this White House! Half of them are being indicted for god’s sake, if they’re not quitting or getting fired, they’re going to jail! Some honor!" Behar said.

Huntsman pointed out, "I think Sean Spicer is one of the few that’s not" in legal trouble.

Whoopi Goldberg said she thinks "it’s a lot of smoke and mirrors"

"I think this is more stuff to throw up … and everybody goes 'oh squirrel!' Nobody seems to be talking about the imminent caravan arrival." Goldberg stated.

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