Video News Clips: In Their Own Words

Savannah Chrisley Gets Into Heated Spat With Sunny Hostin As Co-Host Calls Trump Racist

[Screenshot/The View]

Conservative reality TV star Savannah Chrisley sparred with “The View” co-host Sunny Hostin on Thursday as she repeatedly accused President Donald Trump of being a “racist.”

Hostin argued there was “no question in [her] mind” that Trump was a racist and named an artificial intelligence (AI) video depicting former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes as an example. Chrisley, a guest host who has expressed support for Trump in the past, stated that Trump is not a racist.

“Donald Trump is a racist,” Hostin said. “There’s no question in my mind. It’s time to say the truth and tell it like it is. And the most recent thing that he did by posting on Truth Social, the Obamas depicted as apes in The Lion King, where there are no apes in The Lion King. That was a racist act. He tried to blame a staffer. A staffer did not do it.” 

“It was a staffer who posted it,” Chrisley said. “It was in fact a staffer who posted it.”

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The AI video, set to the song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” depicted several Democrats as different animals and Trump as a lion. It was posted to Trump’s Truth Social and remained online for about 12 hours before being removed. Trump said he did not know that the video depicted the Obama’s as apes until it was already posted.

Chrisley stated that Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HCBUs) received permanent funding under the Trump administration, proving that he is not racist. She also argued that the Trump administration has a duty to protect minorities who lost friendships over their support for Trump.

“For the first time in history, HBCUs got permanent funding under the Trump administration,” Chrisley argued. 

“That funding was started before. That funding was started Savannah, sweetheart, before Donald Trump got into office. Didn’t he repost that thing about the Obamas?” Hostin replied. 

Trump secured 21% of the black male vote in the 2024 election, which is the highest percentage he had ever received from that demographic, according to an NBC News exit poll. He also won the majority of the Latino male vote, 54%, against former Vice President Kamala Harris.

Chrisley guest hosted the program while co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin was on maternity leave. Trump pardoned her parents, Todd and Julie Chrisley, while they served prison time over their fraud and tax evasion convictions in 2022.