On Tuesday, a little over year since she made excuses for the assassination of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson and hyped the ghoulish reaction from her fellow leftist extremists, ABC’s Sunny Hostin used her platform on The View to take a crack at being the defense attorney for alleged assassin Luigi Mangione in the court of public opinion. In practice, the former federal prosecutor came off as needing to return to law school so she could learn about foundational concepts like probable cause. In a segment teased at the top of the show as a discussion of women writing love letters and more to Mangione, Hostin backed up her apparent love for him with action. At the top of her comments, Hostin tried to quell concerns from his supporters by personally vouching for his defense attorneys. She also hyped Mangione as “a young person with all the potential in the world”: And I do know these defense attorneys, I know Karen Agnifilo extremely well. She is the best of the best and she was a former prosecutor, and so I know for sure that he is getting the best defense. And don't we want that? I think we do want people who allegedly murdered a CEO, a young person with all the potential in the world to have a defense and so that if he is convicted, he is rightfully convicted. In an effort to get cheap applause for her argument, Hostin essentially suggested that thinking he was guilty at this point was something improper that only President Trump would want. “We're not this sort of banana republic or we shouldn't be that throws people out of this country without due process. Right?” she chided.   Sunny Hostin, who made excuses for the assassination of a healthcare CEO last year, now praises the attorneys for Luigi Mangione: "I do know these defense attorneys. Actually I know Karen Agnifilo extremely well. She is the best of the best and she was a former prosecutor. And so… pic.twitter.com/4YIKnYfiMC — Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) December 9, 2025   As a former federal prosecutor, The View often leaned on Hostin as their in-house subject matter expert on legal matters. She tried to exploit that role and prey on the ignorant by playing dumb, suggesting Mangione was subject to an illegal search of his backpack upon arrest, and falsely claiming they needed a warrant: HOSTIN: But let me say this, you know, the evidence in question is sort of this backpack that he had on. And when they arrested him, they immediately searched the backpack and as a reason. They said it was because they thought it had a bomb. Now, the Fourth Amendment to our Constitution says you cannot be unreasonably searched, your body, your home, your effects - which would include a backpack - unless you have a warrant and they did not have a warrant. But they did have this reason, you know, ‘we think there was a bomb.’ But they didn't -- it was at a McDonald's and they didn't evacuate the McDonald's. So, if you really thought, Miss Police Officer, that there was a bomb, you would have evacuated. JOY BEHAR: So, that’s all grounds for appeal. HOSTIN: It could be.   Hostin (a former federal prosecutor) continues by taking on the role of being his defense attorney by trying to get him off on a purported technicality. She claims the police illegally searched his bag when they confronted him for the arrest: "But let me say this, you know, the… pic.twitter.com/c8cuaSWR9H — Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) December 9, 2025   Co-host Sara Haines seemed to sense something was wrong with what Hostin was saying. In the face of simple questioning, Hostin’s claims buckled. In an attempt to swing things back in her favor, see returned to the cheap applause tactic she used earlier and suggested the cop lied about thinking Mangione was a danger: HAINES: So, a police officer can't check for the gun if they're arresting someone? HOSTIN: They can, if they say, ‘do you have anything pointy.’ Usually, during an arrest, they'll say, ‘do you have anything pointy or that can harm me, do you have a gun in the backpack.’ And then, if the person says yes or no, it doesn't matter. HAINES: Do you trust someone who says, ‘no, I’m good?’ HOSTIN: I’m saying it doesn't matter. You take that backpack and can search it. In this – in this -- this time in this instance she said, they were searching for a bomb, but that doesn't make sense because they would have evacuated the McDonald's. So, you can't use a lie to conduct a search because this country is not that kind of country. Contrary to Hostin’s claims, they didn’t need a warrant. They had probable cause. There was a nationwide manhunt for a guy wanted for a murder with a firearm whose description Mangione fit. There was also the not-insignificant fact that he had a manifesto against the healthcare system in his possession. And as co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin pointed out, his defense team was trying to get it thrown out as evidence: “And what I find is rich, and Sunny could speak about this. Right now, the defense team is doing what it should be doing, trying to get this critical evidence thrown out that includes his manifesto about the healthcare system.” Hostin never address the manifesto. She also never tried to dispute if the ballistics of the firearm in Mangione’s possession matched the bullets used in the assassination.   Sunny Hostin touts some of the heinous comments celebrating the assassination of Brian Thompson: "Isn't that something? I think it's reflective about how people are feeling about their healthcare." She then calls for universal healthcare. pic.twitter.com/FFQaf3lTnN — Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) December 6, 2024   The transcript was below. Click "expand" to read: ABC’s The View December 9, 2025 11:18:40 a.m. Eastern (…) SUNNY HOSTIN: The system is doing what it's supposed to do. Everyone is innocent until proven guilty. That is our system here, and I think that needs to be – WHOOPI GOLDBERG: Expected. HOSTIN: That needs to be expected. And I do know these defense attorneys, I know Karen Agnifilo extremely well. She is the best of the best and she was a former prosecutor, and so I know for sure that he is getting the best defense. And don't we want that? I think we do want people who allegedly murdered a CEO, a young person with all the potential in the world to have a defense and so that if he is convicted, he is rightfully convicted. Because that's not -- that's the type of country we are. We're not this sort of banana republic or we shouldn't be that throws people out of this country without due process. Right? [Applause] But let me say this, you know, the evidence in question is sort of this backpack that he had on. And when they arrested him, they immediately searched the backpack and as a reason. They said it was because they thought it had a bomb. Now, the Fourth Amendment to our constitution says you cannot be unreasonably searched, your body, your home, your effects - which would include a backpack - unless you have a warrant and they did not have a warrant. But they did have this reason, you know, ‘we think there was a bomb.’ But they didn't -- it was at a McDonald's and they didn't evacuate the McDonald's. So, if you really thought, Miss Police Officer, that there was a bomb, you would have evacuated. JOY BEHAR: So, that’s all grounds for appeal. HOSTIN: It could be. SARA HAINES: So, a police officer can't check for the gun if they're arresting someone? HOSTIN: They can, if they say, ‘do you have anything pointy.’ Usually, during an arrest, they'll say, ‘do you have anything pointy or that can harm me, do you have a gun in the backpack.’ And then, if the person says yes or no, it doesn't matter. HAINES: Do you trust someone who says, ‘no, I’m good?’ HOSTIN: I’m saying it doesn't matter. You take that backpack and can search it. In this – in this -- this time in this instance she said, they were searching for a bomb, but that doesn't make sense because they would have evacuated the McDonald's. So, you can't use a lie to conduct a search because this country is not that kind of country. [Applause] So, all that to say, I'm not saying that he didn't do a horrible thing. I'm not saying that's been found innocent. But I am saying that let's let the process work the way it's supposed to. (…)