‘The View’ Hosts Tear Into John Bolton For Not Testifying Against Donald Trump: ‘Why Didn’t You Step Up?!’

John Bolton appeared on Wednesday’s episode of The View, where he was confronted by the show’s hosts for three full segments. As The Daily Beast reported, Whoopi Goldberg, Meghan McCain, Sunny Hostin, and Joy Behar took the former national security adviser to task for everything from the title of his book to his refusal to testify against President Donald Trump.

Bolton has faced backlash for opting not to testify during the impeachment trial of the president — waiting instead to reveal the details that he knew in his tell-all book — and the women of the show added their voices to that criticism.

Goldberg went after Bolton when he confirmed that he knew that Trump had agreed to release aid to Ukraine in order to get information about former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden. The host criticized Bolton for holding this while the impeachment trial was going on. She also pushed back against Bolton’s claim that the Democrats were committing “impeachment malpractice,” saying everyone in the government was involved and the former national security adviser had information that was vital.

“Everyone did this to the American people, and you knew! I want to believe that the great American that you are thought of knew this was going on and wanted to do something and just felt that your hands were tied. Because if you knew all this was happening, why didn’t you step up and say, I don’t care, this is not how America is supposed to be. Why didn’t you step up?!” Goldberg said.

Bolton responded that he believed the impeachment trial was a partisan exercise.

After going on a commercial break, Hostin took a turn grilling Bolton. She asserted that because Trump wasn’t removed via impeachment, tens of thousands had died from the novel coronavirus, and race relations in the country were deteriorating. Bolton, she said, had the opportunity to change that by telling what he knew about Trump’s attempts to get China and Ukraine to help him win re-election.

“You are one of the very reasons, if not the reason, that President Trump is still in office and wasn’t impeached,” Hostin added. “Help me understand why your silence is not complicity in this.”

Bolton said that his testimony wouldn’t have made the difference in removing Trump from the White House. Instead of participating in what he felt was a partisan impeachment trial, he said he is giving the information to the public so that they can make the ultimate decision about whether or not the president should remain in office in the upcoming election.