Joy Behar apologizes for comments about Pence and faith

“The View” co-host Joy Behar apologized Tuesday for saying that listening for God was a sign of “mental illness,” a comment that had been aimed at Vice President Pence.

Pence said on Fox News’s “Hannity” that Behar had called him to personally apologize for the comments, and that he gave her “a lot of credit” for the “very sincere” apology. He encouraged her to issue a public apology as well.

“I think Vice President Pence is right. I was raised to respect everyone’s religious faith,” Behar said. “I fell short of that. I sincerely apologize for what I said.”

Behar last month made the remark about Pence in response to a clip where Omarosa Manigault-Newman, a former White House aide, said Pence “thinks Jesus tells him to say things.”

“It’s one thing to talk to Jesus. It’s another thing when Jesus talks to you. That’s called mental illness,” Behar said. 

Behar had also made a mockery of the vice president’s policy to not spend time alone with women besides his wife, asking “can he talk to Mary Magdalene without his wife in the room?”

The host originally defended herself against Pence’s criticism, calling it a “joke.” 

Pence in response said that “to have ABC maintain a broadcast forum that compared Christianity to mental illness is just wrong. And it’s an insult not to me, but to the vast majority of the American people who, like me, cherish their faith.”