Behar Takes Dim 'View' of News Coverage of Her Rumsfeld-Hitler Comment

NEW YORK – "The View" co-host Joy Behar took a swipe Thursday at FOX News, days after it reported how Behar compared former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to Adolf Hitler.

"It's a slow news week I think because FOX News is all over my a--," Behar told her co-hosts and "The View" audience.

"Now I consider that a compliment. That's like being on Nixon's enemies list," she said.

Behar's jab came a week after she also suggested that a Republican conspiracy caused Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson to require emergency brain surgery.

Behar apparently was feeling the heat from a shocking, off-the-cuff comment made Monday during a free-wheeling discussion about Time magazine's pick for "Person of the Year."

"You have to put like a Hitler type [on the cover]," Behar told a stunned studio and national audience. "Like, you put Donald Rumsfeld there or something."

That comment brought jeers, and co-host Rosie O'Donnell, visibly shocked, sucked in air through clenched teeth before Behar turned to the audience and pleaded: "What I mean is, put somebody [on the cover] who gets a reaction."

Behar tried to soften the gabfest controversy Tuesday, calling the Rumsfeld-Hitler comparison a "faux pas," and telling viewers: "I don't think Rumsfeld is an evil person in his heart, I just think he did some terrible things in this war, and he was very controversial.

"Why not put his [face] on the cover of Time magazine?" Behar said.

During an on-air toe-to-toe Wednesday with leading Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Behar toned down her rhetoric, playing softball with the probable Democratic presidential contender.

Behar, however, once again found herself in the middle of a verbal gaffe.

During a discussion on "The View" about the Iraq war and President Bush's announcement earlier in the day that he wanted to increase the overall size of the U.S. military, Clinton said she hoped the administration "will follow the lead of what the Democrats have been saying for, you know, more than a year... we have to begin bringing our troops home."

"But that's not what he's saying now," Behar chimed in. "He's saying increase the troops."

"That's right," Clinton said.

"He's saying more troops," added guest co-host Crystal McCrary Anthony.

"Right," said Clinton, adding, "If it's not going to change the mission, if it's not going to be a different strategy, I don't see where putting more troops [in Iraq] will make a difference."

Nobody on the show, including Clinton, noted that Bush had already addressed the issue during a nationally televised press conference.

Bush opened the press conference by announcing that he wanted to increase the overall troop strength of the all-volunteer Army and Marines, but he said he hadn't "made up my mind yet" about sending more troops to Iraq.

"I will tell you we're looking at all options," Bush said. "And one of those options, of course, is increasing more troops. But, in order to do so, there must be a specific mission that can be accomplished with more troops."

Clinton also registered a factual faux pas when she responded to Elisabeth Hasselbeck's question about whether being a mother "and being able to multitask" gives a woman "an edge on, say, a male rival" in a presidential campaign.

"Well, you know, Elisabeth, nobody's ever, nobody's ever been in a position to ask that question, because we've never had a mother who ever ran for or held that position," Clinton said.

In fact, former Congresswoman Carol Moseley Braun, who ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination two years ago, has a son, Matthew, who is a computer engineer.

"The View" lobbed Clinton another routine fly ball: "A Newsweek poll says you're ahead of John McCain and Rudy Giuliani ..." to which the audience and co-hosts again enthusiastically applauded.

"It's very early for anybody," Clinton said, smiling and obviously pleased with the positive response. "I just want our country, people to start talking to each other."

With the exception of a question of whether the physical rigors of being president would keep Clinton from running ("No"), and Behar asking whether it was time that a woman became president, that's as tough as it got on "The View" for the former first lady.