Behar: Black Lives Matter Is Not Political — ‘It’s Just a Statement of Fact’

Joy Behar told her co-hosts on Thursday’s broadcast of ABC’s “The View” that she believed Black Lives Matter was “not a political statement” because it was “just a statement of fact.”

Co-host Whoopi Goldberg said, “The International Olympic Committee just confirmed the rules for the Summer Games in Tokyo. One of which forbids athletes from wearing Black Lives Matter clothing. They say it affects their ban on racial propaganda. Sunny, does this sound like a new rule or a rule in place for a long time?”

Co-host Sunny Hostin said, “Well, I think that when it comes to sports and athletes and social justice, that’s a movement that has been going on for a long time. Think back to the 1968 Olympics and Tommie Smith and John Carlos s holding up their hands to protest the racism that they were experiencing in this country. That was a monumental moment in the Civil Rights Movement. When you think about Muhammad Ali’s stance on social justice, something he took very seriously and really made a lot of change in that sense, this to me felt like a direct assault on the freedom of expression of Black athletes in particular because they took issue specifically with Black Lives Matter, with that term.”

Goldberg said, “Joy, what’s your thought about this ban? Is it new? Do you think it’s necessary?”

Behar said, “You know, it’s funny. I don’t really think Black Lives Matter is a political statement. It’s just a statement of fact like it’s hot in the summer, it rains in April, Black Lives Matter. It’s not a political statement. Am I wrong on this? I never see it that way. I mean, you can always say that raising the American flag is a political statement or raising any country’s flag. I don’t understand why there’s a problem here to tell you the truth.”

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