“The View”'s Sunny Hostin wants felon checks removed from applications: Trump proves 'you can be the president' as a criminal
Hostin said she was "profoundly disturbed" by the results of the 2024 presidential election.
The View cohost and legal expert Sunny Hostin has already started mapping out a plan of reform in the wake of Donald Trump winning a second presidential term.
In the hours after Trump triumphed against Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election, the 56-year-old said she was "profoundly disturbed" by Trump's victory, and cited the former Apprentice host's criminal track record as a platform to advocate for easier access to employment for formerly incarcerated citizens.
"I think that in 2016 we didn't know what we would get from a Trump administration, but we know now. We know now that he will have almost unfettered power," Hostin said from the Hot Topics table on Wednesday morning. "I worry not about myself, actually, I don't worry about my station in life. I worry about the working class, I worry about my mother, a retired teacher. I worry about our elderly and their Social Security and Medicare. I worry about my children's future. I worry about my daughter, who now has less rights than I have."
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Sunny Hostin on 'The View'She added that she's also dismayed that the "14th amendment of the Constitution did not prevent someone who participated in an insurrection from becoming President of the United States" overnight.
"I think that going forward, the convicted felon box on employment applications better be taken off. Because if you can be the President of the United States, you should not be prevented from employment in this country," Hostin stressed. "Because I remember applying for my jobs as a federal prosecutor, and there was a box for convicted felons. That box better be taken off."
Related: See celebrities cast their votes in 2024 presidential election
Trump made history in the election not only by becoming the first president of the modern era to be elected to a non-consecutive term, but also as the first president-elect who was previously convicted on felony counts.
In May, Trump was found guilty on 34 felony charges in a hush-money trial tied to porn actress Stormy Daniels — a development View moderator Whoopi Goldberg celebrated at the time by repeating the word "guilty" multiple times a row while looking into the talk show's camera.
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Elsewhere on The View, Hostin's cohost, Joy Behar, vowed to support the country's democratic process even if she didn't like the results.
"My takeaway is that the system works. We live in a democracy. People spoke. This is what people wanted. I vehemently disagree with the decision that Americans made. But, I feel very, very hopeful that we have a democratic system in this country. We should value it, we should love it, we should protest if the situation arises that we need to protest — which, I'm sure it will," the 82-year-old said. "It's been very difficult, but, boy oh boy, do we have a country if we can keep it."
The View airs weekdays at 11 a.m. ET/10 a.m. PT on ABC.
