“The View” co-host Joy Behar on Tuesday drew a comparison to the Nazi war crimes trials at Nuremberg as she cautioned U.S. service members about following what she described as potentially “illegal orders” from a future Trump administration.
During a panel discussion on the Pentagon’s review of lawmakers featured in a recent video about unlawful commands, Behar recommended that viewers watch the film “Nuremberg,” which dramatizes the post–World War II trials of Nazi leaders.
“It’s about the Nuremberg trials of the Nazis after World War II — and following orders is not a defense. So these soldiers have to pay attention,” Behar said.
Ahead of that warning, Behar played a clip of Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., one of six members of Congress who appeared in the “illegal orders” video, laying out why the group decided to release it.
“These are the things that [Slotkin’s] talking about. Carrying out military strikes on boats in the Caribbean without congressional approval. That’s an illegal order,” Behar argued, summarizing the senator’s concerns.
She also invoked former Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper’s account that then-President Donald Trump allegedly asked about shooting protesters in the legs during the George Floyd demonstrations in 2020.
Co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin pushed back, saying it was important not to blur the lines between different scenarios — such as a president ordering drone strikes in the Caribbean and the idea of ordering troops to fire on protesters.
“But these are things that could be potentially construed as illegal orders. Using major American cities as a training ground for the military,” Behar replied, suggesting that such actions might fall outside legal bounds.
Griffin, who previously worked at the Pentagon, reiterated her concern that encouraging rank-and-file troops to second-guess commands could create serious problems within the chain of command.
“I think that this is actually a much broader conversation about congressional authorization, because there have been many military strikes under many presidents that have not gone through congressional authorization. And you would have a major problem at the Pentagon if you had rank and files raising their hands saying, ‘I don’t know if this got congressional authorization,’” she said.
Co-host Ana Navarro then pointed to U.S. Navy Admiral Alvin Holsey, who oversaw military operations in the Caribbean, as an example of a commander who chose to resign rather than carry out orders he reportedly viewed as unlawful.
Griffin responded by noting that the U.S. has long grappled with thorny questions around the lawful use of force.
“But guys, we’ve droned people abroad without due process,” she said. “Like there’s things — America has bigger issues that are bigger than Donald Trump. I’d be very careful about saying the U.S. Military should stand up and defy orders from their generals. They should pay attention to the clear unlawful orders.”
“You know when an order is outside of the Constitution,” she added.
