Sunny Hostin said on The View that there are times when she walks into a community and sees American flags all over the community and suddenly feels unsafe. The remark turned a discussion of Patriot Front and a photo into a broader argument over symbolism, race and who gets to claim the American flag.
Patriot Front and Cheney Orr
July 4 produced the image at the center of the segment: a photo by Cheney Orr showing a Black woman riding the Washington Metro while surrounded by masked members of Patriot Front. Hostin called it “a defining image of modern America for a Black American” and added, “Defining. As a Black woman, I’m sitting there in my country, and that’s the type of fear I have to experience.”
July 6 brought the discussion back to that image on The View. Hostin said the flag should never be the symbol of White supremacy, and she said some people have “weaponized” it. Her point was not a general complaint about patriotism; it was a warning that, in her view, a national symbol can read as a threat when it is folded into exclusionary behavior.
Tommy Tuberville on X
July 6, 2026 brought the backlash. Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville shared a clip of Hostin’s comments on X and wrote, “Mental illness.” Benny Johnson posted, “I’m so tired of hearing these screeching anti-American women on The View that just sit and bitch, complain, and lie about our beautiful country. If the Stars and Stripes make you feel so unsafe, you can LEAVE. Nobody is keeping you here. Maybe you’d feel safer living in Iran or Cuba?”
Dean Cain also reshared Hostin’s comments and wrote, “Idiots. Insane.” Nick Adams posted, “If Sunny Hostin hates seeing the American flag, she can LEAVE!”
Holly Robinson Peete answered on Instagram with “Thank you sunny,” and one commenter wrote, “Yes @sunny stay on them!!! Thank you!!!” Another said, “Legit how we feel every day,” while a third wrote, “That photo should be a defining image for us all. This is NOT who we want to be.”
Sunny Hostin and the flag
Hostin’s comments landed because they collided with two instincts at once: the reflex to treat the American flag as untouchable, and the reality that some viewers hear it differently when it is tied to White supremacy. That split is why the segment spread so fast, and why the reaction came from politicians, entertainers and ordinary commenters in the same feed.
The sharpest unanswered point is the one Hostin did not explain on air: what specific incident or past experience led her to say she feels unsafe when she sees American flags all over a community. Until she addresses that, the clip will keep functioning as a proxy fight over identity rather than a full account of her own reaction.
