NBC “Sunday Night Football” sideline reporter Michele Tafoya filled in on ABC’s “The View” on Tuesday, where she held firm with regard to her opposition to both vaccine mandates and teaching children critical race theory.
Tafoya told Sports Illustrated in 2015 she identifies as a conservative. On Tuesday, she appeared on “The View” in the chair vacated by former co-host Meghan McCain, and she drew the ire of the show’s hosts.
The sports reporter irked the program’s outspoken liberals by opposing two subjects the broader left has strong feelings for. She also came armed with firsthand accounts of how both issues have affected her personally.
“I have a very, very, very close relative who went through COVID, had it, survived, it was difficult. He is on the other end of it,” said Tafoya, who said she is vaccinated, noted. “He’s in his early sixties, big fella. He has more immunity than I do with my two shots. He doesn’t want to get a shot.”
The discussion began over fans of the Atalanta Braves being told not to do the “tomahawk chop” at the World Series in recent says.
TRUMP DOES ‘TOMAHAWK CHOP’ AT WORLD SERIES GAME: Former Pres. Trump participated in the “tomahawk chop” alongside Atlanta Braves fans at the World Series on Saturday as Native American leaders decry the gesture – the co-hosts and #MicheleTafoya weigh in. https://t.co/MPJfK8USKF pic.twitter.com/wTPPTWpI8E
— The View (@TheView) November 2, 2021
Show co-host Joy Behar, who was visibly upset by the remark from Tafoya about the man with natural immunity wishing to refrain from getting vaccinated, cut her off.
“He doesn’t know how long that immunity will last,” Behar said of her guest co-host’s family member.
“Well, neither do we with the shots,” Tafoya said of vaccines. “We really don’t. For the time being, can’t he just get tested? Can’t we just get tested?”
When Tafoya reminded the show’s hosts that people can have different perspectives on the issue, especially with regard to immunity to COVID, Behar cut in: “Isn’t it easier just to get the damn shot?”
“Well, it depends who you are,” shot back Tafoya. “For you, maybe, but for other people — stick a thing up my nose, I don’t care,” Tafoya responded, reminding the ladies of the show that “the flu kills people, too.”
With regard to critical race theory, Tafoya shared that her son had lost contact with close school friends who were sent to so-called “affinity groups” over the years to spend time with people who looked more like themselves — and not like her son.
“Why are we even teaching that the color of the skin matters?” she asked. “To me, what matters is your character and your values.”
Co-host Whoopi Goldberg then went on the offensive against Tafota with regard to race issues.
“You know that the color of the skin has been mattering to people for years,” Goldberg said.
“Can’t we change it?” asked Tafoya
“Well, we need white people to step up and do that,” Goldberg said.
“They’ve been doing that since the Civil War,” Tafoya told Goldberg.
Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice filled in on the show two weeks ago, where she also opposed critical race theory in a segment that when viral online.
Sec. @CondoleezzaRice: “Our institutions have to be upheld.”
“What happened on January 6th was wrong. I also know that as a government and as a country, we’ve got to be concerned about the things that are making life hard for Americans and hard for American families.” pic.twitter.com/GGA3FGfu3J
— The View (@TheView) October 20, 2021
“I would like black kids to be completely empowered to know they are beautiful in their blackness,” Rice said on the program. “But in order to do that, I don’t need to make white kids feel bad for being white. This is a conversation that I think has gone in the wrong direction.”