Joy Behar on Kyle Rittenhouse's Testimony: 'One of the Worst Acting Jobs I've Ever Seen'

The women of The View aren't buying Kyle Rittenhouse's testimony that he acted in self-defense when he shot three people, killing two, in Kenosha, Wisconsin last summer. Longtime co-host Joy Behar was particularly clear that she believes Rittenhouse's breakdown on the stand amounts to nothing more than "crocodile tears," from someone expressing remorse only when convenient. "That acting job with the crying, I can't even look at it," said Behar. "That is one of the worst acting jobs I've ever seen."

Behar made her feelings known early on in the discussion. The Hot Topic segment opened with a lengthy clip of Rittenhouse's testimony, during which he insisted he "didn't do anything wrong" and "defended myself" from people on the street. "Oh, baloney," said Behar, before Whoopi Goldberg could even pose a question to the panel. "From what I'm gleaning from this case, the guy goes across state lines with an AR-15... to defend himself against what? They're having a protest in another state, and he takes it upon himself to go there? And then he says it's self defense. No."

Sara Haines then spoke out against "self-deputizing regular citizens," as Texas is attempting to do with its recent abortion ban. "It is not up to the average citizen to take it upon themselves, to arm themselves with an AR-15, of all weapons, and go somewhere where you know there is a lot of people and there's stuff going on. That's not going to end well," she said. "I do not right now, in this day and age, trust my fellow citizen to arm up and decide what I'm doing is right or wrong. Do not empower people that way."

KYLE RITTENHOUSE SAYS HE ACTED IN SELF-DEFENSE: After a high stakes day in court in the murder trial for Kyle Rittenhouse for the fatal shootings of Kenosha protesters, the co-hosts react to his testimony defending his actions. https://t.co/6EKSzdUfKA pic.twitter.com/tMuRaHvNhW

— The View (@TheView) November 11, 2021

After the commercial break, Sunny Hostin said that the Rittenhouse trial has the potential to be "a bellwether of where we are in this country" with regard to racism and violence. "Kyle Rittenhouse shot three people. Two were murdered, one was injured. $2 million cash bail was raised online for him. He has become this right-wing star," she said. "If he is convicted of this, he now becomes a right-wing martyr. If he is free, it's a message to others like him that prison won't be in their future."

"If he's free, he'll end up in Congress, probably," replied Ana Navarro.

After noting that Rittenhouse is only "alive to stand trial" because he's white — "If any Latino 17-year-old boy or any black 17-year-old boy had been patrolling the streets of Kenosha with an AR-15-type weapon, we all know what would have happened," said Navarro — the co-hosts returned to the potential verdict. "Those crocodile tears are going to get him off, I bet," said Behar, as Navarro said she hopes it "doesn't turn into a green light for vigilantes in this country."

"Well, we will hope for the best, and prepare for the worst," said Goldberg, summing up the sentiment at the table.

Claire Spellberg Lustig is the Senior Editor at Primetimer and a scholar of The View. Follow her on Twitter at @c_spellberg.