‘The View’ co-hosts test COVID positive before Kamala Harris interview
“The View” co-host Sunny Hostin and contributor Ana Navarro tested positive for COVID-19 just before an interview with Vice President Kamala Harris.
USA TODAY, Wochit
“The View”s Ana Navarro and Sunny Hostin are addressing the COVID scares that preceded their in-studio interview with Vice President Kamala Harris.
Host Joy Behar confirmed that the two hosts had tested negative for COVID-19 multiple times during Monday’s episode following the dramatic on-air moment when they were informed they had tested positive.
“Friday’s show took an unexpected turn when Ana and Sunny’s COVID tests came back positive while we were on the air,” Behar said at the start of the show. “But I am thrilled to report that Sunny and Ana’s Friday results turned out to be false positives and everyone is safe and COVID-free.”
Hostin broke her silence on the COVID scare and revealed that the situation was “triggering” after the death of her in-laws during the pandemic. The parents of her husband, orthopedic surgeon Emmanuel Hostin, died just days apart over the holidays.
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“For me it was particularly triggering because not too long ago, I delivered the eulogy at my in-laws’ funeral, so you can imagine how I felt thinking that I could be possibly be COVID positive and my family could experience another loss,” she said while getting visibly teary-eyed.
“So I was relieved to say the least to find out that I was COVID negative and I was always assured by the fact that I am fully vaccinated.”
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On a more lighthearted note, Navarro also shared how “out of the ordinary” her Friday was, saying she felt “flabbergasted.”
“My first thought was, ‘Oh my God’ because I had just spent the day with Kamala Harris’ sister, niece and brother in law so I’m thinking … I’m going to wipe out the entire Harris family,” she quipped.
She also addressed the hate she received over the weekend, including a tweet from Donald Trump Jr., who took a jab at her weight.
“Given the Ana Navarro news, I think it’s time for a national conversation about the dangers of Covid-19 & obesity,” he wrote Friday,
In response, Navarro didn’t mince words for the businessman.
“First of all, I know that when you are a dimwit with no skill or talent or significant accomplishments living off your father’s fame and name and fortune, you gotta draw attention to yourself. But baby if you want to have a conversation about COVID and obesity, you could have had it last October when your elderly obese father had it,” she said.
She continued: “Because imagine having a father whose butt is the size of a studio apartment in New Jersey… you have the gall to pick on me?”
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Sunny Hostin, Ana Navarro test positive just ahead of Kamala Harris interview
The talk show was supposed to host Harris on Friday for her first in-person talk show appearance since being sworn in as vice president. However, plans were upended when the two co-hosts were pulled off the stage after testing positive, and Harris appeared virtually as a safety precaution.
Behar noticed something was awry, which she inquired about on-air. “Can someone please apprise me of the situation?” she asked at the table with Navarro and her co-hosts Sara Haines and Hostin.
“I need the two of you to step off for a second,” someone off-camera directed Hostin and Navarro. Behar told viewers their absence would be explained soon and began to introduce Harris but was stopped.
“Shall we dance? Let’s do a tap dance,” Behar joked while thinking on her feet.
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After a commercial break, Behar informed the audience of her colleagues’ diagnoses. “Since this is going to be a major news story any minute now, what happened is Sunny and Ana both apparently tested positive for COVID,” Behar said. “No matter how hard we try, these things happen. They probably had a breakthrough case, and they’ll be OK I’m sure because they are both vaccinated up that wazoo.”
USA TODAY has reached out to ABC for comment. A White House official familiar with the situation but not authorized to speak publicly said that Harris was not in contact with Hostin or Navarro before the start of Friday’s show.
Navarro broke her silence about the situation on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 Friday night, describing the situation as “surreal.”
“We were very proud to have the vice president come on ‘The View’ and then all of a sudden it turned into like an episode of ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm,’ “ she told Cooper.
“And of course it’s a very awkward moment. It’s puzzling. You’ve got a hundred things going through your head,” she added.
To fill time, Behar and her co-host Haines took questions from in-studio audience members in masks, one who asked what she and Haines were thinking in the moment.
“What the heck?” Haines quipped.
“We have an Adrenalin rush,” Behar said. “Because we know that we have to think on our feet.”
With about 10 minutes left in the show, Harris appeared remotely, introduced by Behar.
“Before we go into the pandemic question that I have for you, I just want to say I hope that you’re in a safe spot right now,” Behar said. “We did everything we could to make sure that you were safe because we value you so much.”
“Sunny and Ana are strong women, and I know they’re fine, but it really does also speak to the fact that they’re vaccinated,” the vice president said. “Vaccines really make all the difference, because otherwise we would be concerned about hospitalization and worse.”
Contributing: Cydney Henderson, Hannah Yasharoff
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