‘The View’: Sunny Hostin Says She “Blames” Donald Trump For The Deaths Of Her In-Laws During COVID-19 

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The View welcomed Dr. Anthony Fauci on this morning’s episode, where the co-hosts chatted about his experiences with Donald Trump during the early days of the pandemic and the vitriol and threats that he’s continued to experience from his detractors years later.

When it was Sunny Hostin‘s turn to ask Dr. Fauci a question, she mentioned the “countless Americans” who lost family and friends to COVID-19.

“My husband lost both of his parents — two doctors — within three days of each other from the pandemic,” she told Dr. Fauci, who replied, “I’m sorry.”

Hostin continued, “We remember those pandemic briefings. I remember the injection of bleach, perhaps, the hydroxychloroquine, dangerous recommendations,” before telling Fauci, “You were particularly disturbed, I read, by [Trump’s] refusal to wear a mask.

“What was this time like for you, having to contradict the President of the United States? And what should everyone know about how he handled the crisis, because I blame him for my in-laws’ death,” she said.

Dr. Fauci said some members of Trump’s administration thought he had “some sort of antipathy toward the President,” but he insisted, “It was very painful for me. I have a great deal of respect for the presidency of the United States of America. I’ve served seven presidents, so it wasn’t like, ‘Wow, isn’t this cool that I’m contradicting the president.’ It was very, very painful.”

Sunny Hostin on The View with Dr Anthony Fauci
Photo: ABC

Hostin’s remarks today come years after she emotionally shared during a live episode of The View that both of her husband’s parents had died from COVID-19 complications. On the Jan. 8, 2021 installment of the show, Hostin said her husband Emmanuel Hostin’s parents Dr. A. Emmanuel and Dr. Maria Jesus died between Dec. 28, 2020 and Jan. 1, 2021.

“Although I’ve chosen a very public career, as most of you know, those of you that know my husband, Manny, know that he is intensely private,” Hostin said at the time. “But after speaking with him, he felt that from a public health standpoint that it was very important for me to share that we are deeply saddened that Manny lost both of his parents over the holidays.”

She added that both of her husband’s parents had been “very careful” to prevent contracting COVID-19, noting, “After a lot of contact tracing, we still don’t know how they contracted this virus and this disease.”

The View airs weekdays at 11/10c on ABC.