The hosts of The View were surprised to hear their show cited by Vice President JD Vance while he was discussing negotiating with Iran.

Vance appeared on The View on Tuesday and on the following day he held a press conference in which he jokingly cited his tense debates with the hosts — and specifically Joy Behar — as proof he can handle negotiating with Iran. On Friday, a previously-scheduled trip for Vance to formally sign a 14-point memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Iran was postponed amid fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. A ceasefire in Lebanon has since been reportedly put in place.

Vance said:

Now, I have seen some progressive criticisms of me personally saying, “What experience does the vice president of the United States have with hostile, high-stakes negotiations?’” Vance told reporters. “And I would point those progressive critics to the fact that just two days ago, I spent over an hour on The View. So I actually have great experience in very hostile negotiations, and I’ve used that— I mean, look, Joy Behar is way tougher than the Iranians. And she and I are best friends now.

“What?! What?!” a shocked Sunny Hostin said on Friday after watching the clip as the hosts and audience erupted in laughter. “We were more difficult to deal with than the Iranian government?”

“He’s being funny, I think,” Behar said.

Ana Navarro said she wished Behar had been the one negotiating. She later went on to say she understood Vance was joking, but the situation is “serious” and she argued he lacked experience. Navarro accused Vance of repeatedly lying during his appearance on The View.

“I respect the office,” said Behar. “He, you know — I believe in reaching across the aisle. I do. This is why MAGA Republicans, they’re coming around.”

Behar previously revealed that she told Vance to run for president during his visit to the table.

“Truthfully, as I said to you at the beginning of this conversation, I don’t think that he’s a bad guy. So if he runs against, say, Gavin Newsom, that would be an interesting debate to see those two because they’re both intelligent,” Behar had said.

“I want to know why were you so in love with JD Vance?” Hostin asked Behar on Friday.

“Look, I’m not in love with him and I’m not in love with this administration,” Behar said.

“He just called you his best friend!” Hostin joked.

Navarro then said she heard the exchange between Behar and Vance.

“You said to him — I mean, it was a backhanded compliment — you said to him, you know, you’re you’re pretty good, for a Republican,” she recalled, arguing Vance was “strategically” arming “niceness” to “disarm” the hosts.

“It did not work on me,” Behar said as her co-hosts mocked her over Vance. “I respect the office. I’m a civilized human being. When someone comes on my show, then you treat them like a human being.”

Watch above via ABC.

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