‘The View’: Ana Navarro and Joy Behar Offer Rare Praise for Mitch McConnell After Nancy Pelosi Steps Down

Either Hell has frozen over or there’s a full moon tonight. While discussing Nancy Pelosi‘s announcement that she plans to step down as the House Speaker, the The View co-hosts, notably Joy Behar, offered some rare praise for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

The unusual bit came after The View shared previously released footage of Pelosi checking in on former Vice President Mike Pence via phone call during the Jan. 6 insurrection. Behar applauded Pelosi for reaching across the aisle and showing “empathy” by calling both Democrats and Republicans — a quality the host claimed many Republicans failed to display after Pelosi’s speech.

“Some of them didn’t even have the decency to clap during her speech or even show up,” she said, before honing in on particular target. “I’m looking at you, [Kevin] McCarthy.”

Ana Navarro pointed to one Republican show did show up for Pelosi, McConnell — a surprising shout-out considering her repeated criticism of him and others in her party. Pointing out that McConnell “did issue a congratulations and a statement thanking Nancy Pelosi,” Navarro praised the politicians for his “level of humanity,” “common sense” and “sensibility.”

Even Behar, who rarely utters a kind word about the GOP, agreed with her co-host. She added, “Good for him,” as Navarro recounted about McConnell’s message to Pelosi.

Behar added, “That’s good, I mean, he wants to be the more moderate wing of the party, obviously.”

The exchange was much more civil than the last time the Behar and Navarro talked about McConnell. Just last month, Navarro called him “sane and consistent” in comparison with McCarthy, leading Behar to chime in with her claim that he is “almost destroying this country.”

The View airs on weekdays at 11/10c on ABC. Watch the full conversation about McConnell in the video above.