The View was thrown into a bit of chaos on Friday when legendary actress Jane Fonda said she had “thoughts of murder” as a solution to stem the wave of anti-abortion laws sweeping the United States.
“She’s just kidding,” co-host Joy Behar exclaimed in response, prompting Fonda to shoot her a mockingly dirty look.
Fonda’s remarks, though apparently made in jest, immediately sparked outrage among conservatives and anti-abortion activists, who claimed the 9 to 5 star was “inciting violence against pro life politicians.”
In a statement to The Daily Beast, Fonda responded to the right-wing backlash by stating that her remarks were clearly made in a joking and hyperbolic manner.
“While women’s reproductive rights are a very serious issue and extremely important to me, my comment on The View was obviously made in jest. My body language and tone made it clear to those in the room—and to anyone watching—that I was using hyperbole to make a point,” Fonda said.
“Women across the country are facing real threats when it comes to our bodies, and people lose faith in our mission to protect women when others choose to focus on tangential issues and passing jokes instead of the actual problem at hand,” she added.
Fonda and longtime friend Lily Tomlin were on Friday’s broadcast of the ABC talk show to promote their new movie Moving On. Behar eventually noted that Moving On’s writer/director also directed the film Grandma, which featured Tomlin as a grandmother helping her granddaughter raise funds to pay for an abortion.
“It came out in 2015, well before Roe v. Wade was overturned,” the liberal comedian added. “Now Walgreens won’t even offer the abortion pill in 21 states. It’s against the law in those states.”
After Tomlin said the “backsliding” over abortion laws is “pretty terrifically awful,” Fonda chimed in to declare that American women have “experienced for many decades now of having agency over our body” before exclaiming that they’re “not going back.”
“I don’t care what the laws are. We’re not going back,” she added to applause.
Praising Fonda’s activism, co-host Sunny Hostin said that the two-time Oscar winner “probably will get a Nobel Prize.” Behar, meanwhile, wanted to know what more Fonda could recommend beyond “marching and protesting” to pro-abortion activists.
“Well, I’ve thought of murder,” Fonda quipped, prompting a smattering of laughter and stopping her co-star in her tracks.
“What did you say?” Tomlin wondered.
“Murder,” Fonda repeated, sparking more laughter. Behar and Tomlin, obviously fully aware that her remarks would immediately kick off a right-wing backlash, quickly jumped in to provide cover.
“Don’t say that!” Tomlin exclaimed while Behar told the audience: “They’ll pick up on that and run with it.”
Behar then insisted that Fonda was “just kidding,” leading the acting legend to slowly turn towards the View host and shoot her a death stare, once again to studio laughter. Hostin, for her part, shifted the conversation back towards Fonda’s long-running activism.
It didn’t take long for conservatives to rage over the actor’s comments while claiming they were a call to violence against anti-abortion lawmakers.
“Jane Fonda (and many Democrats) want you and me ‘murdered’ for fighting to protect the most innocent in the womb,” MAGA Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) tweeted. “Believe Democrats when they say the quiet part out loud. Sounds like they want us dead.”
The Georgia lawmaker also took to her official congressional account to claim she was “reporting this” because The View and its network were also responsible for “death threats, attacks, and potential murders of Pro-Life politicians and activists.”
She then took a personal shot at Fonda. “By the way @Janefonda your eggs are dried up so you don’t have to worry about getting pregnant anytime soon, so you can retire from demanding baby murder now,” Greene added.
Greene’s colleague Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) echoed that sentiment, asserting that “Jane Fonda called for the murder of pro-life Americans” and that the View’s “hosts claimed Fonda deserves a Nobel Prize & laughed-off her heinous remarks.”
Sharing a video clip on Twitter, anti-abortion activist Lila Rose said that Fonda “calls for pro-life politicians to be murdered” and that conservatives need to “pray & work passionately against the darkness.”
Other prominent right-wing social media accounts also claimed that Fonda was calling “on activists to murder pro-life politicians,” while CPAC senior fellow Mercedes Schlapp wrote that Fonda’s “dangerous rhetoric is unacceptable” and “is inciting violence against pro life politicians.”
Representatives The View did not respond to a request for comment.
