Should ‘The View’ Bring Back Elisabeth Hasselbeck as Its Conservative Commentator?
This week, “The View” has been feeling different from how it has in years. Suddenly, it’s relevant.
One might think this is nothing new — after all, in the first Trump presidency, and before that for much of its history, the panel show was a clearinghouse for fiery debates about politics and policy. Sure, maybe the producers went a little far placing co-panelists Rosie O’Donnell and Elisabeth Hasselbeck in a literal split-screen for their infamous 2007 fight over Iraqi casualties (the argument that directly led to O’Donnell quitting the show). But it was all in service of generating a conversation that looked, onscreen, a bit like the ones Americans were having out there in our multifarious country. From a certain angle, the rancor could look like part of the fun.
Which is why Hasselbeck’s return, this week, has been so welcome. It’s not that this viewer agrees with the points Hasselbeck makes — far from it! (I did root for her on 2001’s “Survivor: The Australian Outback,” back when she was a 23-year-old shoe designer. The politics stuff came later.) But “The View” has lately been lacking energy in general and a genuine broadcast talent to put forward what is a mainstream point of view in particular. Hasselbeck has given the show the jolt it needed; I hope the producers find a way to bring her back for longer than a week.
Consider, for instance, the legitimate bit of news Hasselbeck made in condemning Megyn Kelly. “How dare you, Megyn Kelly,” Hasselbeck said, excoriating the podcast host for her claim that U.S. servicemembers who died after strikes on Iran did not die for the benefit of American interests. “I’m not afraid of her,” Hasselbeck continued. “I have my heart with my friends in the military — you do not get to authorize who they died for.”
The two women, both Trump voters and both former Fox News talent (Hasselbeck went to “Fox & Friends” for two years after her “The View” tenure ended in 2013), would seem to have plenty in common, but the circular-firing-squad quality of conservatism at this moment means that the fissures are all on display. Which is not to say that Hasselbeck was entirely training her fire on her own side! Watching her claim that Kristi Noem’s Congressional testimony, in which Senators on both sides of the aisle ripped into her language around ICE actions, paled in comparison to the success of Noem’s record was, at least, novel. Seeing her read it to camera unchallenged would have been noxious. Seeing it catalyze an actual response from co-hosts who’ve lately been sleepwalking through agreeing with one another was like a time-travel trip back to when this show sat at the center of culture. I never thought I’d be so happy to hear the phrase “Let me finish”!
This all has so much more heat than watching Joy Behar and company agree with one another and then move on. The last true token conservative on the program was Meghan McCain, whose complicated relationship with both Trump’s policies and with her own stardom lent the show a sparking, combustible energy — one truly did not know what would happen as she continued to drive the conversation. After her 2021 departure, Ana Navarro and Alyssa Farah Griffin — one of whom is an apostate Republican who publicly deplores Trump, the latter of whom worked in his first administration before denouncing him after Jan. 6, 2021 — have put forward a perspective that exists far more widely among the national media than among elected officials or, seemingly, people in our world, that of the Never-Trumper Republican. The great challenge of the Trump era, and one that the media has generally struggled to meet, has been to acknowledge the reality that Trump voters represent a transformative political force in this country, and that this era is not going to end anytime soon. Placing Hasselbeck on “The View” is less platforming her ideas (they already have a platform, in the form of the presidency) than forcing them to be interrogated rather than just treated as someone else’s problem.
Hasselbeck first left “The View” early in Barack Obama’s second presidential term; ratings had slowed, and producers faced pressure from ABC to turn down the show’s political tenor. (Hasselbeck was replaced by Jenny McCarthy, who — views on vaccines aside — is not one to speak on policy.) But Hasselbeck’s return has lent “The View” a high-stepping energy it hasn’t had in years. Behar and especially Goldberg seem invigorated by the opportunity to parry with Hasselbeck, in part because (at least for TV) they have a relationship rooted in some kind of mutual respect. (It seemed apparent, by the end of McCain’s tenure, that this was not the dynamic at all.) They can argue to the end of the “Hot Topics” segment and, with nothing settled, return and restage the argument the next day. I’m not sure that’s moving the discourse forward, but it’s at least more illuminating as to where we are as a nation than I’ve lately seen. And it makes the case for, should she want it, Hasselbeck’s full-time return — as long as she’s met by co-panelists willing to challenge her, too.
One might think this is nothing new — after all, in the first Trump presidency, and before that for much of its history, the panel show was a clearinghouse for fiery debates about politics and policy. Sure, maybe the producers went a little far placing co-panelists Rosie O’Donnell and Elisabeth Hasselbeck in a literal split-screen for their infamous 2007 fight over Iraqi casualties (the argument that directly led to O’Donnell quitting the show). But it was all in service of generating a conversation that looked, onscreen, a bit like the ones Americans were having out there in our multifarious country. From a certain angle, the rancor could look like part of the fun.
Which is why Hasselbeck’s return, this week, has been so welcome. It’s not that this viewer agrees with the points Hasselbeck makes — far from it! (I did root for her on 2001’s “Survivor: The Australian Outback,” back when she was a 23-year-old shoe designer. The politics stuff came later.) But “The View” has lately been lacking energy in general and a genuine broadcast talent to put forward what is a mainstream point of view in particular. Hasselbeck has given the show the jolt it needed; I hope the producers find a way to bring her back for longer than a week.
Consider, for instance, the legitimate bit of news Hasselbeck made in condemning Megyn Kelly. “How dare you, Megyn Kelly,” Hasselbeck said, excoriating the podcast host for her claim that U.S. servicemembers who died after strikes on Iran did not die for the benefit of American interests. “I’m not afraid of her,” Hasselbeck continued. “I have my heart with my friends in the military — you do not get to authorize who they died for.”
The two women, both Trump voters and both former Fox News talent (Hasselbeck went to “Fox & Friends” for two years after her “The View” tenure ended in 2013), would seem to have plenty in common, but the circular-firing-squad quality of conservatism at this moment means that the fissures are all on display. Which is not to say that Hasselbeck was entirely training her fire on her own side! Watching her claim that Kristi Noem’s Congressional testimony, in which Senators on both sides of the aisle ripped into her language around ICE actions, paled in comparison to the success of Noem’s record was, at least, novel. Seeing her read it to camera unchallenged would have been noxious. Seeing it catalyze an actual response from co-hosts who’ve lately been sleepwalking through agreeing with one another was like a time-travel trip back to when this show sat at the center of culture. I never thought I’d be so happy to hear the phrase “Let me finish”!
This all has so much more heat than watching Joy Behar and company agree with one another and then move on. The last true token conservative on the program was Meghan McCain, whose complicated relationship with both Trump’s policies and with her own stardom lent the show a sparking, combustible energy — one truly did not know what would happen as she continued to drive the conversation. After her 2021 departure, Ana Navarro and Alyssa Farah Griffin — one of whom is an apostate Republican who publicly deplores Trump, the latter of whom worked in his first administration before denouncing him after Jan. 6, 2021 — have put forward a perspective that exists far more widely among the national media than among elected officials or, seemingly, people in our world, that of the Never-Trumper Republican. The great challenge of the Trump era, and one that the media has generally struggled to meet, has been to acknowledge the reality that Trump voters represent a transformative political force in this country, and that this era is not going to end anytime soon. Placing Hasselbeck on “The View” is less platforming her ideas (they already have a platform, in the form of the presidency) than forcing them to be interrogated rather than just treated as someone else’s problem.
Hasselbeck first left “The View” early in Barack Obama’s second presidential term; ratings had slowed, and producers faced pressure from ABC to turn down the show’s political tenor. (Hasselbeck was replaced by Jenny McCarthy, who — views on vaccines aside — is not one to speak on policy.) But Hasselbeck’s return has lent “The View” a high-stepping energy it hasn’t had in years. Behar and especially Goldberg seem invigorated by the opportunity to parry with Hasselbeck, in part because (at least for TV) they have a relationship rooted in some kind of mutual respect. (It seemed apparent, by the end of McCain’s tenure, that this was not the dynamic at all.) They can argue to the end of the “Hot Topics” segment and, with nothing settled, return and restage the argument the next day. I’m not sure that’s moving the discourse forward, but it’s at least more illuminating as to where we are as a nation than I’ve lately seen. And it makes the case for, should she want it, Hasselbeck’s full-time return — as long as she’s met by co-panelists willing to challenge her, too.