The cohosts of The View were surprised to learn that Donald Trump‘s favorite musical is Les Misérables on Thursday’s (June 12) episode of the talk show. The first “Hot Topic” of the day was the mixed reception Trump got when attending a Kennedy Center performance of the period drama — during which a procession of drag queens was roundly celebrated, while Trump and wife Melania received some boos and cheers.

“Oh, she’s back with him?” Joy Behar first joked of Melania’s attendance at the event, referencing her limited public participation in Trump’s second term so far.

Then, the group reviewed footage of the crowd’s reaction to Trump, along with his response to certain cast members boycotting the show because of him, in which he said, “I couldn’t care less, honestly. All I do is run the country well.” They also showed Trump’s response to a question of whether he identifies more with Jean Valjean, the story’s long-suffering protagonist who fights for the poor, or Javert, the law and order-obsessed antagonist. Of that, Trump said, “That’s a tough one, I don’t know. That’s tough.”

“I was surprised to hear he was a fan of musicals, things I never would have finished ‘Donald Trump loves’ [with]. I just wouldn’t have thought that,” Sara Haines said. “I found it interesting that Les Mis is one of his favorites, because … some of the biggest themes are justice versus mercy and government wronging people and them revolting… So considering kind of the time that we live in…”

“It’s about rebellion against the French king,” Sunny Hostin added with a laugh. She later offered a theory as to why Trump is so involved with the Kennedy Center this term, including adding members of his administration and inner circle to its board. “Dictators… they want to control culture. They want that, and that’s very important because creativity is a threat to their power, because creativity offers different perspectives. It challenges their control. It offers different narratives.”

Behar then chimed in to say, “I sort of feel sorry for him because he craves this group — the glitterati — to love him.” Whoopi Goldberg then suggested he wants her approval in particular, which she demurred before adding, “He craves Lindsay Lohan, and he gets Lindsey Graham.”

Alyssa Farah Griffin then joined the conversation to clarify, “Actually, I believe Cats is his all-time favorite, which always surprised me.”

“Well that tracks,” Haines responded.

“He always used to blare ‘Memories’ at his rallies,” she said. “Big Cats fan.”

“He likes to grab ’em by the cats, you know,” Behar joked, evoking Trump’s infamous choice of words on a hot mic with Billy Bush in the 2016 Access Hollywood tape leak.

Griffin then noted, “What I liked about this is, to me, in many ways, it was a display of America. You saw peaceful silence, and some vocal protesting, those drag queens walked in, it was a celebration of joy, signifying they deserve to be there. They’re going to show up in a space that matters to them and always has, the theater, and they’re going to do it in a way that’s joyful. Outrage is what Trump wants. He wants people shouting. He wants people fighting. He wants people rioting, but when you respond with joy and celebrating the things that he may not love, that’s actually way more powerful.”

The View, weekdays, 11 a.m. ET, ABC