‘The View’ Hosts Spar Over Whether General Milley Committed Treason With China Calls (Video)

The hosts of “The View” clashed on Wednesday morning over whether U.S. General Mark A. Milley committed treason during the final days of Donald Trump’s presidency. For hosts Sara Haines and Sunny Hostin, the answer was a firm yes.

According to a new book by Washington Post associate editor Bob Woodward and national political reporter Robert Costa, the Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Milley was so worried about Trump’s mental state and anger management skills after his 2020 election loss, that he called his counterpart in China twice to assure him that the United States would not initiate a nuclear strike — and promised to alert them if it did happen.

For “The View” host Sunny Hostin, this was too blatant a disregard for the chain of command, even though she was also admittedly worried about what Trump might do.

“I think that, you break command in that way, you are committing treason,” Hostin said. She added that she worked for and with the government for many years, and that it is “sacrosanct to go within the chain of command.” Hostin then argued that Milley’s move was essentially a coup.

“I think there’s just no excuse for a silent coup, which I think that’s what that is,” she said.

Host Sara Haines agreed with Hostin for the most part, but admitted she was okay with the fact that Milley also reportedly used his spot on the chain of command to tell those below him not to listen to any instructions advising a nuclear strike without informing him.

“That, to me, was a safety net,” Haines said. “A bit of a whistleblower saying ‘You guys, look me in the eye right now, we’re not pushing buttons, okay?'”

But Haines added that she thinks Milley should not have reported to China at any point. “Even if Trump’s in charge, you go within,” she argued.

At that, host Joy Behar took issue, arguing that Milley was the only person who stepped up in Trump’s cabinet, which she believes should’ve invoked the 25th amendment.

“The whole time that Trump was president, I was home saying ‘Please God, make there be an adult who controls this lunatic,” Behar said. “I was praying. ‘Let there be somebody in the room who holds his arm back when he goes to that button.'”

From there, the hosts argued on how this same scenario might’ve been received, if it was happening during Biden’s administration. You can watch the full segment from “The View” above.