The View hosts accuse Trump of ‘normalizing’ ableist slur: ‘Shame on him for picking on the most vulnerable’

President directed the derogatory slur at Minnesota Governor Tim Walz over the state’s Somali refugees

The View hosts have banded together in denouncing President Donald Trump’s use of an ableist slur to describe Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.

On Thanksgiving, Trump issued a lengthy rant on Truth Social about America’s “refugee burden.” Blaming Walz for “the hundreds of thousands of refugees from Somalia” taking over “the once great State of Minnesota,” he labeled the former vice presidential candidate “seriously r*****ed.”

“The word he used to describe Tim Walz is a word that I’ve refused to use my whole life because, as you all know, I have a brother, who is severely intellectually disabled,” co-host Ana Navarro said on Monday’s episode of The View.

She added that her older brother, 61-year-old Daniel, is non-verbal, self-injurious, autistic and requires 24/7 care.

“I grew up watching little kids stare at Daniel, mimic his gestures, mimic his sounds, and parents would scold their children, would discipline their children and teach them the lesson that you don’t do that with the neediest amongst us, which are these disabled people,” Navarro, 53, continued.

Ana Navarro and her 'The View' co-hosts blasted Trump's latest use of the R-word (ABC/Getty)

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz called Trump’s use of the slur ‘cruelness’ and ‘meanness’ (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

“For me, the straw that broke the camel’s back with Trump was when I saw him in the 2016 campaign, making fun [of] and mimicking that disabled person,” she noted, referring to when the Republican mocked a disabled New York Times reporter during a campaign event.

Trump has denied that he had intended to mock anyone, instead insisting that he was simply imitating a reporter who had gotten nervous after it was pointed out that he had changed information in a story.

“Look, when kids see the President of the United States using those words and being a bully, and just perpetuating cruelty that way, they learn that it’s ok,” Navarro said. “He’s normalizing it, and they mimic it. So shame on Donald Trump for picking on the most vulnerable amongst us.”

Calling on parents and family members of those with disabilities to speak out against Trump’s use of the R-word, the co-host argued that disabilities “are not Republican or Democrat. They hit all of us.”

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Co-host Sunny Hostin, 57, further addressed Indiana Republican state legislator Michael Bohacek, who recently announced that, after the President used the slur, he would now oppose the GOP-favored redistricting effort in his state because he has a daughter with Down syndrome.

“Again, it is not a political issue, it’s a human issue,” Hostin said.

Following Trump’s tirade, Walz appeared on Sunday’s Meet the Press, where he reacted to the President’s remarks.

“I think we all know, both as an educator for a couple of decades and as a parent, using that term is just so damaging,” Walz told Kristen Welker.

“He’s normalized this type of hateful behavior and this type of language,” said the father of two. “And mainly, look, at first, I think it’s just because he’s not a good human being, but secondly to distract from using competency.”

Walz’s son Gus, 19, has a nonverbal learning disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and anxiety disorder.

“You can use that word, sure,” Walz acknowledged. “You can use that language. But you shouldn’t. And that’s something that Donald Trump fails to realize. But again, Kristen, this is cruelness. This is meanness, it’s aimed at a broader community.”