Abby Huntsman previously worked with Hegseth and fielded repeated questions from Hostin. Joy Behar jumped in to ask: “Do you want me to save you from Sunny?”

Sunny Hostin grills The View cohost on Pete Hegseth, repeats question 5 times: ‘Do you think he’s qualified?’

Abby Huntsman previously worked with Hegseth and fielded repeated questions from Hostin. Joy Behar jumped in to ask: "Do you want me to save you from Sunny?"

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March 24, 2026 4:20 p.m. ET

Sunny Hostin and Abby Huntsman on 'The View'. Credit:

*The View *cohost Sunny Hostin is here to make it clear she doesn't think Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is qualified for his job.

Hostin on Tuesday went in on the Donald Trump appointee, amid growing pushback to the United States' military operations in Iran. As part of her criticism, the longtime Hot Topics panelist even grilled returning guest panelist Abby Huntsman (who was part of *The View* cast from 2018-2020) over her former colleague.

"If this doesn't go well, this is not good for Pete Hegseth," Huntsman said, just before Hostin said, "You know Pete," which Huntsman confirmed.

"I worked on a show with Pete, and I praise him for his service and he's a smart guy. He was a perfect Fox News host," Huntsman added, referencing the conservative pundit's former cohosting gig with Hegseth on* Fox & Friends.*

Abby Huntsman on 'The View'.

"Is he a perfect Secretary of Defense?" Hostin asked, teeing up an inquiry she'd eventually repeat four more times in different iterations.

"For one, I'd say the memes, the cartoons, and the movie memes have got to stop," Huntsman said, after the White House used images of SpongeBob Squarepants to celebrate strikes. "When you come from a military family, this is not a game.... Coming from a military family, there are people that are dying, that are losing their lives."

Hostin again repeated, "Do you think he's qualified to be the Secretary of Defense?" while Hunstman side-stepped the probe, telling Hostin, "I don't hope for the demise of this country and the people that are in charge right now. I pray for the best. I'm very concerned."

Refusing to relent, Hostin asked, "But, do you think he's qualified to be the Secretary of Defense?" Hunstman, once more, didn't answer the question head-on.

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"They way they're playing this game right now is like checkers when the rest of the world is playing chess," Huntsman replied. "We're good at getting into wars, we're also very bad at getting out of wars."

Cue Hostin: "It sounds like you don't think he's qualified to be the Secretary of Defense," she asked, as Joy Behar stepped in to quip, "Do you want me to save you from Sunny?"

Huntsman explained further, noting that she felt that Trump picked "people that he knows will agree with him and do what he says" for his administration. "You wake up every day working for Trump thinking, am I going to get fired today?"

Whoopi Goldberg, Sara Haines, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, Abby Huntsman on 'The View'.

Turning toward Sara Haines, who attempted to add to the conversation, Hostin asked, "So, are you saying that Pete Hegseth is probably not a good..." with Haines finally putting an end to the inquisition by asserting, "I'll go ahead and say Pete Hegseth is not qualified to run the Department of Defense."

Huntsman cut in moments later to clarify, telling the cohosts, "I don't want what's going on to fail because I have people that I love that are serving his country," she explained. "I pray they get this right. The decisions that have been made, I'm very, very concerned."

Later in the conversation, Hunstman brought the conversation back to the topic, finally giving in to Hostin's prior questions when she said, "By the way, I don't think Pete's qualified for the job," to which Hostin exclaimed, "Thank you!" while the studio audience applauded.

** has reached out to the Department of Defense for comment.

*The View* airs weekdays on ABC.

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW Talk”