On a recent episode of ABC News’s The View, co-host Sunny Hostin discussed the significant implications of the Wisconsin Supreme Court special election, calling it a “referendum” on both President Donald Trump and Department of Government Efficiency leader Elon Musk.
The election saw Judge Susan Crawford, supported by Democrats, emerge victorious over Judge Brad Schimel, who had been backed by Musk and other conservative forces.
Hostin emphasized that the race reflected growing discontent among voters with the influence of powerful figures such as Trump and Musk on the democratic process.
“I would say it’s a referendum on Trump and definitely a referendum on Musk,” Hostin said on Wednesday. “He’s lost more money in Tesla stock than you can imagine. He bought his company back, but I do think Americans are saying, ‘Mr. Musk, you don’t get to come in here and buy our courts and buy our elections and buy power. You don’t get to do that.’”
However, the Washington Examiner‘s Chief political correspondent, Byron York, cast doubt on the idea that the Wisconsin Supreme Court election could be a reliable gauge of public sentiment.
“I’m not sure if these are great tests,” York said during an appearance on Fox News’s America Reports. “Wisconsin is very close, of course. Trump won Wisconsin by less than one point, and we’ve had these battles in Wisconsin before. I’m not sure that either result — whether a Republican or Democrat wins in this so-called nonpartisan race—would tell us much about Trump.”
During The View episode, Joy Behar noted how Musk had poured millions into the race, hoping to sway the results in favor of Republicans.
“What it’s saying to me is that Americans have had it,” Behar added, noting that the Florida special elections were “very close.”
“Americans are fed up. People are watching and listening, seeing their rights being eroded, their money taken away, Social Security threatened, and people being fired en masse. They’re starting to catch on to what this regime is doing,” Behar continued.
“You know when inflation is out of control when you can’t buy an election for $20 million,” Behar quipped about Musk’s money in the Wisconsin election.
WISCONSIN SUPREME COURT RACE MAY NOT BE INDICTATOR OF TRUMP AGENDA: BYRON YORK
Cohost Whoopi Goldberg said that Musk’s DOGE efforts are upsetting the public.
“People don’t like it when you fire vets,” she claimed. “You’re firing federal workers, and you’re not telling me why. You might have said, ‘I’m going to clean this swamp,’ but you’re not telling me how you’re cleaning it. You’re just going in, and you’re grabbing stuff.”