Monday’s episode of The View was repeatedly interrupted by protesters calling out for action on climate change. The protesters emerged from the audience during an interview with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, shouting over him and the show’s co-hosts. When one group of protesters was removed from the studio audience, another soon took their place.
The interruptions started when Cruz avoided a question about reproductive rights and instead began talking about the economy. According to a report by Deadline, shouts built up in the audience, with the most audible chant being: “government funding now!” A few minutes later, co-host Sunny Hostin explained that the protesters were calling out about climate change, which she took to be an angry rebuke at the show itself for not asking Cruz about the topic. She said that The View does cover climate change frequently, but the second round of protesters made it clear that this was about more than media representation.
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“Ladies, let us do our job. We heard what you all have to say but you’ve got to go. You’ve got to let us do our job,” said Whoopi Goldberg. At least some of the protesters were reportedly removed from the studio, though some might have simply quieted down. Either way, a few minutes later as Cruz and the panel got their discussion back on track, the shouts overtook them once again.
The protesters were muted and the broadcast cut there abruptly. The show went to a commercial break and when it returned, order seemed to have been restored in the studio. Co-host Anna Navarro told Cruz: “I’m sorry this happened in our house.”
This outcry comes amid increasingly public and distinct protests over governments’ approach to climate change all over the world. Earlier this month, a British group called Just Stop Oil staged a protest in London’s National Gallery where tomato soup was thrown at a painting by Vincent van Gogh. This weekend, a German group called Last Generation threw mashed potatoes at a painting by Claude Monet in Potsdam’s Barberini Museum.
Both paintings were covered by glass and were later confirmed to be unharmed, according to a report by ABC News. However, in both cases, the protest groups said that it didn’t matter since their stunt drew international coverage to their cause. It’s not clear if the same philosophy was at work here in interrupting a live interview with a sitting senator.
