Behar presses de Blasio on going after Obama at debate: 'Do you have to do it in public?'

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"The View" host Joy Behar took issue with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's strong words for former President Obama and suggested that he shouldn't do so in a public forum like a Democratic primary debate.

"You attacked Obama instead of Trump," Behar said Friday, apparently annoyed at the criticism directed at the former president.

De Blasio's appearance on "The View" came after he and other 2020 candidates faced scrutiny for attacking former Vice President Joe Biden by questioning the Obama administration's policies.

De Blasio responded to Behar by denying that he attacked Obama, arguing instead that questions about Obama's deportation policy would come up eventually during the election cycle.

'VIEW' HOST PRAISES HOW BIDEN HANDLED GILLIBRAND'S ATTACK: 'HE PUT HER IN THE GROUND'

"Do you think these questions aren't going to come up later?" he asked Behar. He went on to argue that Democrats were undergoing a "process" of finding their identity as a party.

"Do you have to do it in public?" Behar asked.

"Yeah, you actually do have to do it in public ... if we can have this discussion in our family — and yeah, in this case, it's a family discussion that happens to be televised, we then can figure out who we are as Democrats and go into battle ready to win," De Blasio countered.

He added that he was challenging Biden because he wanted to hear him clarify his position. De Blasio's explanation was similar to that of Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., who faced similar scrutiny over her decision to challenge Biden during the debate.

Gillibrand, who criticized a 1981 op-ed from Biden, claimed on Thursday that she wanted to give Biden the opportunity to explain his position on child care tax credits.

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Behar was just one of many in the media to push back on 2020 Democrats' apparent criticism of the former administration. Others on MSNBC similarly suggested the attacks were misguided.

"Ok. Let me get this straight. Democrats hate Obamacare AND hated his immigration policies? What planet are they from?" MSNBC host Joe Scarborough tweeted.