Republican presidential hopeful Tim Scott will sit down at “The View” table on Monday, TheWrap can exclusively reveal. Scott will be the second Republican presidential candidate to appear on the show in recent weeks. He is set to appear on Monday, June 5.
Scott’s appearance on the ABC talk show comes just days after he called out host Joy Behar for comparing him to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas (in which she said that he “doesn’t get” systemic racism), but talks with the politician to appear on the show began as soon as he announced his presidential run on May 22.
Behar will not be present for the interview Monday, as it is her day off. Interviewing Scott will be the regular Monday panel for “The View”: Sara Haines, Sunny Hostin, Alyssa Farah Griffin and Ana Navarro, led by Whoopi Goldberg.
“Every president elected in the past 15 years has been a guest on the show before Election Day,” executive producer Brian Teta said. “It’s an important platform for any politician to reach a wide audience, especially women, and talk to them about the issues most important to them, debate, and yes, answer some tough questions. It’s built into the original mission statement of this show that our table is a place for different perspectives and we welcome these important conversations.”
Indeed, Scott’s candidacy — and politics in general — have split the hosts of “The View” in recent conversations. In addition to Behar’s comments, Goldberg called Scott out for using a “dogwhistle” of victimhood and said he has “Clarence Thomas Syndrome.”
That said, during the May 25 episode of “The View,” Whoopi discouraged the audience from booing Republican Chris Sununu, who is also expected to declare his candidacy for president, saying that she and her co-hosts want to be able to discuss issues with people of different views.
“We need to talk to people to find out what they’re thinking, and are they thinking in the right way?” she said. “He’s not gonna be perfect, none of ‘em are! But at least give people the opportunity to say what’s going on.”
Meanwhile, Navarro and Farah Griffin have expressed their excitement over Scott’s potential as president, with the latter calling him “a contrast to Donald Trump.”
“What Tim Scott brings is a traditional conservative that stands for something other than just grievance,” she said. “He’s somebody who wants to reach across the aisle when there’s an opportunity to do that.”
“I’m also happy he’s in the race because I think there is such dearth of melanin in the Republican Party. And also of optimism and unity,” Navarro added. “I really welcome somebody that speaks like Tim Scott, looks like Tim Scott, has lived the life of Tim Scott, to be on that stage with a different message. Even if I disagree with him vehemently, at least he’s not a jerk or a madman. That’s where my bar is.”
Scott will appear on “The View” on Monday, June 5, at 11 a.m. ET.