Michelle Collins and Joy Behar tried to make it crystal clear on Wednesday’s “The View” that they truly support nurses — so they’d prefer if you chilled with all that #NursesUnite backlash, Twitter.
“We love nurses … we adore you, we respect you,” Collins said. “You guys are wonderful, you’re the most compassionate people.”
“I was not talking about her as a nurse, we were talking about the talent competition and I think it got misconstrued,” she continued.
“By the way, if your bosses are watching, you all deserve raises,” Collins added. “Give them more money, give them everything, take my money.”
On Monday, Collins and Behar had made some quips about a Miss America contestant wearing a stethoscope and scrubs during the talent portion of the contest, when the registered nurse performed a monologue. The co-hosts’ observations didn’t go over well on social media, sparking several hashtags in support of the nursing profession.
“The talent, though, I have to say, the woman who won sang opera, and she was incredible. Really good,” Collins had said on Monday. “But then there was a girl who wrote her own monologue and I was like, ‘Turn the volume up, this is going be amazing, let’s listen.’ She came out in a nurse’s uniform and basically read her emails out loud and shockingly did not win … it was hilarious.”
“Why does she have a doctor’s stethoscope on?” Behar asked Collins at the time, who replied: “She helps patients with Alzheimer’s, which I know is not funny, but I swear you had to see it.”
For Behar’s part, the comedian just said on Wednesday that she wasn’t paying attention during the segment and didn’t realize the contestant they were goofing on was a nurse.
“We’re all at their mercy, let’s face it,” Behar said of the profession. “It’s not like I was trying to be funny, it was just stupid and inattentive on my part.”
After, Collins called nurses “hilarious.” Behar added: “Nurses are great.”
Moderator Whoopi Goldberg, who wasn’t on hand for the initial Monday incident, turned it around on those who took offense.
“You just have to listen. You have to pay attention,” she said. “You have to look at folks and say, ‘Is that what they said? Or did she make a joke?”
Watch the video.