Barbara Walters Rips John Boehner

Barbara Walters Rips John Boehner: 'This Guy Has an Emotional Problem'

Patricia Murphy

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House Speaker-to-be John Boehner already has his share of attacks coming from the White House and Democrats on Capitol Hill, but he may want watch out for incoming fire from the ladies of ABC's "The View."

During a "Hot Topics" segment on daytime talk show Monday, the discussion turned to Boehner's appearance on Sunday's "60 Minutes," in which the congressman from Ohio repeatedly held back tears as he talked about growing up with 11 brothers and sisters; about his refusal to visit schools because of the emotion he feels for the future of kids in America; and about the pride his wife has in seeing him become the next speaker of the House.

"Everybody who knows me knows I get emotional about certain things," Boehner explained to CBS's Lesley Stahl when she asked why he is so frequently gets teary-eyed, including on election night.

But the ladies of "The View" were not sympathetic to Boehner's propensity for weepiness.

"This guy has an emotional problem, that every time he talks about anything that is not 'Raise taxes,' he cries," said Barbara Walters. "If you had seen Nancy Pelosi all these past years crying, what would you say?" she asked co-host Sherri Shepherd.

"She's weak," Shepherd responded.

"Well, good luck to him. I hope he's a good speaker of the House, but he's got a problem," Walters concluded.

Another co-host, Joy Behar, who makes no secret of her liberal leanings, called Boehner the "Weeper of the House" and said she only sees him cry about his own difficult circumstances.

"He cries only when he talks about how sad his life was," she said. "He had to sweep floors, he was a janitor, and yet he has very little empathy for people who are in that position now."

But Elizabeth Hasselbeck, the most conservative of the women in the group, defended Boehner as someone who genuinely wants to create jobs and see Americans succeed. "You can't crucify a man for getting emotional," she said. "He's actually probably a fine man who cares. You can't just brush off him like that and say he's a bad guy because he cries."

Whoopi Goldberg did not get into the scrum Monday, but did toss to a commercial break at the end of the segment as she pretended to weep.