'The View' hosts have opposing takes on need for a Presidential Debate before 2024 election

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Co-hosts Whoopi Goldberg, Sara Haines, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, and Alyssa Farah Griffin discussed whether Donald Trump and Joe Biden should debate each other on the February 19, episode of 'The View'.

Noting that it happened to be President's Day, Goldberg said that this might be the first time in over 50 years that the United States may not get to see a Presidential Debate. Both the incumbent and the former Presidents have expressed over media that there should be one but did not commit themselves to it.

The co-host did remind the audience of Trump's promise to debate in the primaries when it was down to a two-person race, but he had not yet debated former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, his last Republican competitor standing.

Alyssa Farah Griffin is all for the Presidential Debate

Co-host Griffin felt that a debate between the Democratic and Republican candidates is "critically important" for the democracy of the United States.

"We live in a media ecosystem where you can almost choose your own news, and some folks choose their own facts," she explained and continued, "So you can watch certain outlets and you are only going to get one side of any story."

Griffin stated, "It is critically important that the American people see the juxtaposition on issues. They (Trump and Biden) actually have to be able to defend their positions, they just can't say what the other person is for, they're gonna have a chance to respond."

"But this is what's important," she continued. "Donald Trump is notoriously hard to interview and to cover. I think they need three journalists there, prepared to fact-check in real-time. He lies like he breathes, but the voters deserve to hear from them directly. My caution to Biden is, I get maybe he wouldn't, but Donald Trump is hiding behind the narrative that he is not up to it, and voters would believe that if he doesn't show up. So (Biden) needs to show up and debate," she said.

Sara Haines stands against Donald Trump vs Joe Biden debate

Though the co-host agreed that debating was good for democracy and she would have preferred it if she did not know the candidates quite as well, she stated that her main concern was Donald Trump.

"I wish they'd put him in phone booths and cut mics after certain amount of time because, in addition to the fact-checking, he overtalks, gaslights, and everything else," she said.

She added, "So oftentimes, the comparison to Donald Trump makes anyone look 'less than' on some level ... He has these non-verbal cues that could lead some to believe, 'Oh he's strong...' but he just blows the whole thing out of the water. And if he hasn't debated anyone yet, the only debate I would like to see is him and Nikki Haley."

"I don't think that Biden needs to because Donald Trump has done nothing to participate in this democracy since he lost," she concluded.