A fiery on-air clash erupted on The View after news broke that the Trump administration is backing a controversial $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization fund” — a program critics say could end up rewarding Jan. 6 rioters with massive taxpayer-funded payouts.

And one comment from co-host Joy Behar instantly set social media on fire.

“What about the Manson family?” Behar asked during Thursday’s broadcast. “Why don’t we give them money?”

The audience gasped.

The comparison came as Behar reacted to reports that Enrique Tarrio — the former Proud Boys chairman convicted of seditious conspiracy for his role connected to the January 6 attack — could allegedly seek millions in compensation through the new fund.

According to Behar, the idea of paying people connected to the Capitol riot was beyond outrageous.

“This guy directed people to assault the government,” she said angrily. “And now he could get between $2 million and $5 million?”

The explosive debate unfolded just days after the Department of Justice announced the creation of the massive new fund as part of a settlement linked to Donald Trump’s legal battle against the IRS over leaked tax returns.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the move by saying the fund would establish “a lawful process” for people who claim they were victims of political targeting or government “weaponization.”

But critics immediately accused the administration of opening the door to political favoritism, corruption, and rewriting the history of January 6.

Behar was far from the only host sounding the alarm.

Co-host Sunny Hostin, a former federal prosecutor, argued the legal structure surrounding the settlement appeared deeply suspicious. She pointed out that a federal judge in Florida had reportedly been preparing to review and potentially dismiss parts of the underlying IRS case before the settlement suddenly emerged.

“They settled before the case was even fully adjudicated,” Hostin warned. “And somehow this giant fund appeared in the agreement.”

Then she delivered the line that sent the audience into stunned silence.

“This is corruption at the highest level,” she declared.

The discussion quickly turned emotional as moderator Whoopi Goldberg reminded viewers of the devastating toll of the January 6 attack itself.

Goldberg cited the deaths, injuries to law enforcement officers, billions spent on security responses, and the long national trauma that followed the Capitol assault.

“They are asking taxpayers to pay back the very people who helped create that destruction,” Goldberg said.

The segment rapidly exploded online, with clips spreading across social media platforms within minutes.

Critics of Trump called the proposal a dangerous escalation that rewards political extremism and further erodes public trust in democratic institutions.

Supporters of Trump, however, blasted The View hosts for what they described as exaggerated hysteria and partisan outrage.

Many conservatives argued that the proposed fund is intended to help Americans who believe they were unfairly targeted by politically motivated investigations during the Trump years — not specifically Jan. 6 defendants.

Still, the controversy surrounding the fund is intensifying at a critical political moment.

Trump remains the dominant force inside the Republican Party, but tensions surrounding January 6 continue haunting the GOP as the 2026 midterms approach. Democrats are already preparing to make Trump’s legal controversies and rhetoric central campaign issues in battleground districts across the country.

Even some Republicans are reportedly uneasy about how far the administration may go in defending figures tied to the Capitol attack.

Behar predicted the backlash could become politically toxic for vulnerable GOP lawmakers representing swing districts.

“They may not survive this politically,” she suggested.

The fight also reopened old wounds surrounding political fundraising controversies from both parties.

Behar referenced the backlash Vice President Kamala Harris once faced after promoting donations to the Minnesota Freedom Fund during the 2020 protests following George Floyd’s death.

“This is that on steroids,” Behar argued.

That comparison instantly ignited another wave of political warfare online, with conservatives accusing The View hosts of hypocrisy while liberals insisted the situations were nowhere near comparable.

For many Americans, however, the deeper concern is what the controversy reveals about the country’s widening political divide.

Nearly five years after January 6, the attack on the Capitol remains one of the most emotionally charged events in modern American history. And instead of fading into the past, the political battle surrounding it appears to be growing even more explosive.

Whether the proposed fund survives legal and congressional scrutiny remains unclear.

But one thing became obvious after Thursday’s heated exchange:

America is still fighting over what January 6 meant — and who should ultimately pay the price for it.