Anyone who has seen the movie The Usual Suspects is familiar with Verbal Kint’s iconic quote: “The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.” If you didn’t know any better, you might be tempted to believe the hard left is emulating Satan with its constant attempts to convince the American public that radical leftist extremist groups affiliated with the Antifa movement do not exist.

Joy Behar, co-host of The View, became the latest in a long line of Antifa-deniers when she repeated claims that the movement is nothing more than “an idea.” But there is a serious problem with this particular argument.

Joy Behar Runs Cover for Antifa

On the March 16 episode of The View, Behar and the other hosts discussed comments made by Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) in which he claimed he would be afraid of Black Lives Matter and Antifa protesters if they had been the ones to storm the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Behar ridiculed him, claiming he is a racist for stating he was not afraid of the Trump supporters who engaged in rioting that day.

“You know, he’s right out there. He’s right out there with his racism. There is no dog whistle for him,” Behar bloviated. “It’s like, ‘I’m a racist. Have a nice day.’ You know what I mean? It’s funny. When I was watching this, it was so aggravating to listen to this idiot. I mean, he and I are very different.”

The host continued:

“I’ll tell you this right now. If I was surrounded by people carrying weapons, people erecting nooses, screaming, ‘Hang Mike Pence,’ bludgeoning a police officer to death, I might be a little scared. But Ron, no, he’s not scared of these people. He’s scared of this fictitious idea of Antifa, a thing that doesn’t even exist. He needs to go. He needs to go, and soon.”

Co-host Meghan McCain pushed back against Behar’s statement, pointing out that members of the Antifa movement were recently involved in violence in Portland, OR. “The idea that Antifa doesn’t exist is just factually inaccurate and wrong and a lie,” McCain retorted.

“I just want to clarify that Christopher Wray, who was the FBI director, says that Antifa is an ideology, not an organization,” Behar said. “There is no sign that they were involved in the Capitol siege. Let’s be clear.”

McCain responded: “I’m not saying they were involved in the Capitol siege. I’m saying they exist.”

“It’s an idea,” Behar replied. “It’s an idea, not a real thing.”

President Joe Biden has also referred to Antifa as “an idea, not an organization.”

Where’s the Lie?

However, both Behar and Biden mischaracterized Wray’s words. The FBI director clarified that Antifa is a “real thing” but that it is “not a group or an organization. It’s a movement or an ideology.”

To put it simply, just as MAGA is not an organization, the same applies to Antifa, which is more of a movement. The movement is made up of various hard-leftist groups who subscribe to the Antifa ideology, which purports to oppose fascism despite its adherents using fascist tactics to push their political agenda.

Biden also referred to Antifa as “an idea, not an organization,” citing the FBI director in the first presidential debate. Wray had appeared at a House hearing in September and testified that Antifa is a “real thing,” clarifying that Antifa is “a movement or an ideology.”

Behar had to twist Wray’s words to support the illusion that Antifa is nothing more than a “fictitious idea.” However, those who have had their businesses destroyed by the movement’s adherents know that it is a real ideology being pushed by flesh-and-blood human beings. As the Washington Examiner pointed out, “Last year, Antifa was responsible for rioting in Portland for over 100 days in a row and has played prominent roles in riots throughout the United States that have cost billions in damages.”

Of course, people like Behar who look down upon the masses from their comfortable ivory towers can easily pretend the progressive world is full of nothing but angels and fairy princesses, utterly devoid of evildoers. Indeed, the only danger the United States faces are those cruel orcs clad in MAGA hats and overalls. Deluded humans reside in this world, and they will not stop until the rest of society inhabits the same “fictitious” world.

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Read more from Jeff Charles.