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"The View" co-hosts clashed over Nikki Haley on Thursday after co-host Sunny Hostin questioned why people were backing GOP candidate Nikki Haley after Chris Christie had announced he was backing out of the race.

Co-host Sunny Hostin seemed to suggest people were backing Haley just because she is a woman and compared her to former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. 

"I don’t understand why everyone is backing Nikki Haley, especially women. I remember when Hillary Clinton was running, there was a lot of talk about ‘I don’t vote for someone just because she has a vagina.’ Well, last I checked Nikki Haley has one too," Hostin told her panel of fellow hosts. 

Co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin recently revealed she would be supporting Haley in the GOP primary. 

Sunny Hostin

"The View" co-host Sunny Hostin appeared to suggest on Thursday that Republicans were backing Nikki Haley because she is a woman. (Screenshot/ABC/TheView)

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She pushed back on Hostin's claim and said, "we don't really do identity politics as much."

"Oh yes, you do," Hostin countered.

"I don't, I've literally never said it's because she's a woman. I think she's the most qualified," Griffin said before Hostin claimed the Republican Party did. Griffin questioned whether anyone had said that about Haley. 

Hostin argued that Haley shouldn't be in the race because she had said she would pardon Former President Donald Trump and would vote for him if she does not become the nominee.

Sunny Hostin

"The View" co-host Sunny Hostin criticized Nikki Haley on Thursday and argued that she was not "the right candidate" to stop Donald Trump. (Screenshot/ABC/TheView)

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Co-host Sara Haines also seemed to take issue with Hostin's remarks and explained that she voted for Clinton in 2016 because she believed she was most qualified.

"53% of Republican women voted for Trump," Hostin responded, and Haines said she wasn't following her argument.

"I'm sorry, I'm not following some of the back-and-forth. To me, I think Nikki Haley's following, I actually have not heard one single person say I’m voting because she’s a woman,' because the Republican Party itself tends to separate, as Black candidates, they can’t even address slavery or race when they run for office. They’re not identity people," she said. 

"Let me continue my point, too. I think that right now is the time for Nikki Haley. The reason, I don’t vote in Republican primaries, that I like Nikki Haley is I am on the ‘anyone but Trump train,’" she said. 

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley

Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley speaks at a campaign town hall in Rye, New Hampshire, Jan. 2, 2024. (Reuters/Brian Snyder)

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Hostin went after Griffin over her support for Haley earlier this month.

"You can’t support her. You’re rational," Hostin said to Griffin.

"I have rung the alarm bells. I’m not convinced Joe Biden can beat him," Griffin said. "Nikki Haley is not a threat to democracy."