After “The View” hosts mocked Turning Point USA this week, the conservative organization issued a cease-and-desist letter to ABC News on Tuesday for broadcasting false accusations.
The letter accused “The View” of making “false, derogatory and defamatory statements” against TPUSA’s Student Action Summit, a youth conservative conference in Tampa, Florida. The event took place Friday through Sunday.
“The false statements of fact intentionally made during The View’s July 25th segment were unquestionably harmful to TPUSA’s reputation and brought the organization and its student affiliates into disrepute with the public, potential donors and current and future business partners, posing a significant financial loss to the organization,” the letter read.
Co-hosts Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar and Sarah Haines criticized TPUSA on Monday for letting neo-Nazis protest outside the conference last weekend, Fox News reported.
“Neo-Nazis were out there in the front of the conference with antisemitic slurs and, you know, the Nazi swastika and a picture of a so-called Jewish person with exaggerated features, just like Goebbels did during the Third Reich. It’s the same thing, right out of that same playbook,” Behar said.
She also said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis “did nothing” to address the situation.
Haines read a legal disclaimer on-air, saying TPUSA condemned the protesters who “had nothing to do” with the conference.
The legal note did not satisfy Goldberg, who alleged that TPUSA “let them in, and … knew what they were.”
The problem with this claim was that the protesters were not invited and did not attend the conference.
Should TPUSA #SueTheView?
TRIGGERED: About 50-70 protesters spawned to protest SAS 2022, they actually got onto the Convention property and tried to tell me I’m not allowed at my own event | @TPUSA pic.twitter.com/CASGeeWJXZ
— Drew Hernandez (@DrewHLive) July 23, 2022
Following a commercial break, Goldberg was forced to correct her statement.
“My point was metaphorical,” she said.
While they were forced by their legal department to correct two of these misrepresentations live on air, Whoopi continued to insist that TPUSA somehow welcomed “nazis” into our event “metaphorically.” pic.twitter.com/320UV0aH0G
— Turning Point USA (@TPUSA) July 26, 2022
They also falsely claimed the summit was a GOP-affiliated event.
TPUSA’s Veronica Peterson, who did not take the hosts’ statements on live television lightly, wrote the cease-and-desist letter.
“The View hosts intentionally and falsely associated TPUSA with neo-Nazi protestors outside the event placing TPUSA in denigrating and false light and negatively impacting its public perception,” the letter said. “Such action will not be tolerated.”
Peterson addressed the claims, clarifying that TPUSA condemned the neo-Nazi activists and that security could not remove them from the premises.
“To be abundantly clear, TPUSA aggressively and completely condemns the ideologies of neo-Nazism and has zero connection to the protestors outside the event. Since these individuals were located on public property, TPUSA security attempted to, but was not permitted to remove them,” she wrote.
Peterson added that the event was not associated with the Republican Party.
The letter gave ABC News until Wednesday to offer a retraction and apology.
Haines of “The View” issued a correction Wednesday on-air, which can be seen below.
UPDATE: The View has issued yet another formal correction to TPUSA and its students LIVE on air. The apology was issued by Sara Haines. Whoopi remained silent and has not retracted her comments that TPUSA “metaphorically” embraced “Nazis.” https://t.co/rcTawUTbpX pic.twitter.com/rANUlmXZwO
— Turning Point USA (@TPUSA) July 27, 2022
After the news started trending, conservative figures used #SueTheView on social media.
I love #SueTheView. It rhymes and everything. Plus, The View is the most disgusting show on network television. Truly hideous women who know nothing and are proud of themselves for it. https://t.co/gNOjUs4GGn
— Jeremy Boreing (@JeremyDBoreing) July 27, 2022
TPUSA has not yet disclosed whether the apology and retraction satisfied the letter’s demands. If not met, the conservative organization will pursue all “legal remedies” for the defamation.
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