Sunny Hostin, co-host of ABC's The View, went on the show's Behind the Table podcast Monday and called for an open "rebellion" against President Trump — and yes, she used a Star Wars show as her blueprint. Somewhere between the yogurt commercials and the audience applause breaks, Hostin apparently decided she was Cassian Andor fighting the Galactic Empire.
Because nothing says "grassroots resistance" like a millionaire television personality on a Disney-owned podcast telling other people to rise up while she looks down from her skyrise apartment.
Hostin argued, "We are feeling the result of not having a resistance. A valuable resistance," she declared. Then she went full sci-fi revolutionary: "We need to form a rebellion. A true resistance." Executive producer Brian Teta chimed in to help sell the bit, telling listeners the Disney+ series Andor "will change your life. It's all about forming a rebellion."
So let's get this straight. The rebellion is being organized on a podcast produced by Disney, promoted by an ABC host, inspired by a Disney+ streaming show featuring the fictional character Cassian Andor played by Diego Luna. The revolution will be televised — and it'll be brought to you by the same corporation that runs theme parks.
As NewsBusters associate editor Nicholas Fondacaro pointed out, the show Andor features rebellion tactics that include violence, theft, protests turning into shootouts, and assassinations of government officials. That's the model Hostin is holding up for her audience. Real responsible stuff from daytime television.
Hostin tried to anchor her outrage in actual policy, citing a Louisiana decision on gerrymandering and invoking the Voting Rights Act. She referenced gerrymandering cases in both Louisiana and Tennessee, then dropped this gem: "It feels a lot like the new Jim Crow, right?" Because of course it does. Everything is Jim Crow to these people. A longer line at Starbucks is Jim Crow.
Here's the thing about Sunny Hostin's "rebellion." She's not giving up anything. She's not risking anything. She's sitting in a Manhattan studio on a show that pulls millions of viewers, collecting a paycheck most Americans can't even dream of, and cosplaying as a freedom fighter. The rebels in the actual Star Wars universe at least had to live in caves and dodge laser fire.
Hostin lives in a world where calling for "rebellion" against a sitting president gets you applause from a studio audience and a trending moment on social media. That's not resistance. That's performance.
We've seen this movie before — literally. Hollywood liberals love comparing themselves to fictional heroes fighting fictional tyrants. It lets them feel brave without doing anything brave. You want a real rebellion, Sunny? Give up the ABC gig. Donate the salary. Go organize in a state that didn't vote for you.
She won't. Because the rebellion isn't the point. The content is the point. And between the Andor references and the Jim Crow comparisons, Monday's episode gave the algorithm exactly what it wanted.
The revolution will be podcasted.
