‘I Feel Threatened’: Sunny Hostin Says She’s ‘Scared’ By Trump Flags — And American Flags ‘When It’s Not July 4’

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Sunny Hostin said Wednesday that she felt “threatened” when confronted by displays of flags supporting former President Donald Trump — and even by American flags when it was not July 4.

Hostin joined her co-hosts on “The View” in a discussion of New York Times editorial board member Mara Gay and her assertion that flag displays were an indication that white Trump voters could not separate the idea of “Americanness” from “whiteness.” (RELATED: ‘Why Was He Chosen?’: Sunny Hostin Says Republicans Only Wanted Tim Scott ‘Out Front’ Because He Is Black)

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“For many the flag has been a symbol of freedom,” co-host Whoopi Goldberg began. “Has it taken another meaning, Sunny?”

“Yes, it has,” Hostin said, adding that she had been surprised to see the backlash aimed at Gay over her comments.

“You have in many respects the former disgraced, twice impeached, one-term president to thank for politicizing the American flag,” Hostin continued, referencing the Capitol riot and saying that protesters there had been attempting to replace the American flag with Trump flags.

“I also remember very well recently, when I was with my children in North Carolina, in the Outer Banks, with people in pick-up trucks with Confederate flags flying alongside the U.S. flag. And that scared me,” Hostin said. She went on to say that to her, those flags sent a white supremacist message indicating that she did not belong.

Hostin then pivoted to address the American flag specifically, saying that for her it took on the same meaning if there were a lot of flags in a non-military neighborhood or if it was not a traditional holiday where flags might be expected.

“When I drive into a neighborhood and it’s not July 4th and I’m not in a predominantly military household neighborhood and there are flags, American flags, everywhere, alongside Trump flags, alongside flags with stars in a circle, I feel threatened,” Hostin said. “Because the message is very clear. It’s a message of white supremacy. It’s a message of racism and it’s a message of their country, not my country. And I don’t understand why that would receive backlash.”