Sarah Huckabee Sanders Clashes With ‘The View’ Hosts: ‘You’re Not Going to Twist My Words Around’

Sarah Huckabee Sanders faced tough questions during a tense TV appearance, where a discussion about politics quickly turned into a disagreement with the show’s cohosts.

Sanders, 44, appeared on The View on Monday, November 9, to promote her new book, Unapologetic, and discuss Republican losses in last week’s midterm elections. However, tensions rose when Ana Navarro and Sunny Hostin challenged Sanders over President Donald Trump‘s immigration policies.

The Arkansas governor, who previously served as the White House press secretary for Trump, 80, acknowledged during the ABC appearance that Republicans had experienced a “tough night” at the polls.

“Well, I think the first thing is, the president was exactly right to secure our border and to put an intense focus on violent criminal illegals,” she said on the show.

“I have to stop you there,” Navarro, 54, interrupted. “Because the majority of the people being detained and deported do not have violent criminal [records].”

“That’s not what I said,” Sanders replied.

As Navarro continued challenging her statement, the governor pushed back.

“No, you’re not going to twist my words around,” Sanders said, explaining that she supported Trump’s decision to prioritize people entering the country illegally.

Hostin, 58, then challenged Sanders over deportations, claiming that 97 percent of those being deported had committed no criminal offenses.

Sanders defended the need for border enforcement before broader immigration changes. “You cannot fix the system until you can secure the border,” she said.

Hostin then objected to Sanders’ terminology. “People aren’t illegal, they’re undocumented,” she said.

“Actually, if you break the law, that’s the definition of illegal,” Sanders responded.

Hostin disagreed, declaring, “People are not illegal. They may commit crimes, but they’re not illegal.”

“That’s factually incorrect,” Sanders said.

“It’s not,” Hostin fired back.

Despite the disagreements during the segment, Sanders expressed hope that Democrats and Republicans could work together on future immigration reforms.

The View cohosts have also challenged Democratic politicians. During the Thursday, November 5, episode, Sara Haines questioned newly elected Michigan senator Abdul El-Sayed about his response to a March attack on a synagogue near Detroit.

Haines, 49, pressed the senator on why it took him several months to apologize for comments that drew criticism, while Joy Behar acknowledged his apology, calling it “better late than never.”