'The View' co-host slams media focus on Hunter Biden, Trump trials: 'Convoluted distraction'
Griffin suggested people were tuning out the news
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"The View" co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin criticized the media on Tuesday for their coverage of the Donald Trump and Hunter Biden trials, arguing that it was distracting Americans from issues they really care about.
"I am frustrated, that this election cycle, the media coverage feels like it’s trial this, conviction this, this trial, him walking into the courtroom. Why aren’t we talking about what people care about, their ability to afford utilities this summer, the economy, addressing border security? It just becomes this convoluted distraction that I worry is making people tune out the news and not wanting to be engaged politically," Griffin said.
Griffin referred to both Trump, who was found guilty by a Manhattan jury on Thursday, and Hunter Biden, who is facing three felony firearm offenses regarding the 2018 purchase of a .38 revolver from a gun shop in Delaware.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Co-host Joy Behar jumped in and argued that people tune out when the media talks about the accomplishments of President Biden's administration.
Co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin speaks during "The View" on Tuesday, June 4, 2024. (Screenshot/TheView/ABC)
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Co-host Sara Haines suggested that the coverage of the trials is exactly what people wanted right now, citing an article about people "wanting to hate," and said the media was somewhat following what Americans wanted to be engaged in.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I feel that because of what we see in the media, that we are meant to believe that everyone everywhere is in their feelings," co-host Whoopi Goldberg said, responding to Haines. "I think really everyone everywhere is just trying to get through their day. So everybody, just one foot in front of the other."
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Co-host Sunny Hostin said earlier in the discussion she didn't have a problem with Hunter being on trial, arguing that it was how the country is "supposed to be."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"There are 80 million Americans that have purchased firearms. Only about a thousand a year are investigated. Twelve were prosecuted. That is 0.09% of the cases. Less than 1% of the cases are investigated but guess what, Hunter is one of them and I say that’s how this country should be," she said.
Hunter Biden arrives at federal court, Tuesday, June 4, 2024, in Wilmington, Delaware. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
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Hostin said she expects Biden to get a drug diversion charge.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Jury selection for Biden's trial was completed by Monday afternoon as 12 jurors and four alternates were selected to serve.
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Biden pleaded not guilty to federal gun charges in U.S. District Court for Delaware after special counsel David Weiss charged him with making a false statement in the purchase of a firearm; making a false statement related to information required to be kept by a licensed firearm dealer; and one count of possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report.