America turned 250 years old this week. The hosts of ABC's The View marked the occasion by telling their audience they're embarrassed to live here.

One episode. They couldn't manage one episode.

The July 3rd show turned what could have been a straightforward celebration into what the outlet called "a fireworks show of hate for the country." Co-host Joy Behar kicked things off by declaring that "we should all be embarrassed to be American," a sentiment that pairs nicely with the millions of dollars ABC pays her annually to sit in a studio in Manhattan and share her thoughts on camera.

Sunny Hostin went further. She said she was "embarrassed at our government" and described the United States as a "failed experiment." She added that she was "discouraged by how this country is viewed by the rest of the world" — this during a week when international visitors were flooding American cities for World Cup celebrations, apparently unaware they were supposed to be embarrassed too.

The show even dusted off a clip of comedian Larry David saying, "I was embarrassed to be an American." The hosts treated this like a profound observation rather than a throwaway line from a man whose entire career is built on performative misery.

Moderator Whoopi Goldberg presided over the segment. Guest co-host Sara Eisen, a CNBC anchor, was also at the table. Behar, apparently feeling historical, referenced the United States dropping nuclear weapons 80 years ago and questioned American foreign policy broadly, asking why we were "going into all these countries." The implication being that on the birthday of the nation that rebuilt Europe, defeated fascism, and stared down the Soviet Union for half a century, the appropriate posture is shame.

Here's the rebuttal the hosts never had to face: the 250th anniversary wasn't invented by a political party. It's a historical fact. The Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776. You can have complicated feelings about where the country is right now — most people do — without declaring the entire experiment a failure on its birthday.

But that distinction requires separating your feelings about current politics from your assessment of the country itself. And The View has never been interested in that distinction. The show has spent 2026 escalating its anti-American rhetoric, building toward this crescendo on the one date when even the most cynical commentators usually manage a flag pin and a smile.

What makes it revealing isn't the politics. It's the proportion. Millions of Americans spent July 4th at parades, cookouts, and fireworks shows. Immigrants who chose this country waved flags. Military families honored sacrifices. And four women on a daytime talk show — women who enjoy wealth, fame, platform, and legal protections that exist virtually nowhere else on earth — used their hour to explain why none of it is worth celebrating.

The failed experiment pays pretty well, apparently.