The View is experiencing some interesting times as several guest hosts have been tapped to fill in temporarily for Alyssa Farah Griffin. There was initially some backlash when former co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck was revealed as one of the replacements, and her week on the Emmy-winning talk show has indeed included some fireworks. Hasselbeck used her return to TV to lob some insults at Megyn Kelly, and her fellow former Fox News anchor didn’t hold back in her response.
Elisabeth Hasselbeck, who was a regular conservative voice on The View from 2003 to 2013, was back this week, and she had strong opinions about some of Megyn Kelly’s comments about the recent strikes on Iran. Hasselbeck asked, “How dare you, Megyn Kelly?” and the political podcaster was quick to brush off the criticism, as she shot back (via the Daily Mail):
Elisabeth was too weak to handle the ladies of The View and even the morning set on Fox and Friends.
Elisabeth Hasselbeck announced her exit from The View in 2013, but she later admitted she’d actually been fired by ABC, reportedly after an on-air argument with Barbara Walters and Joy Behar in which Hasselbeck ripped up her notecards and initially refused to go back on stage during a commercial break because Walters had “reprimanded” her on the air.
Megyn Kelly seemed to reference how things went down for Hasselbeck on The View, saying:
She ran from the public square into exile so she could avoid mean people saying unflattering things about her - and there are many to say. … No one gives a damn what this know-nothing has to say.
Elisabeth Hasselbeck joined Fox & Friends but left in 2015, effectively retiring from TV.
The View historically hasn’t always been the most welcoming space for Republicans or those with more conservative political leanings — and that’s in the rare event that they do bring on a conservative guest. Perhaps it’s a bit shocking, then, that arguably the loudest criticism is coming from another conservative anchor.
Alyssa Farah Griffin offered advice for the Republicans filling her seat before she left, making for a full-circle moment, as she echoed some of what Elisabeth Hasselbeck had told her when she joined The View full time in 2022.
While this week has certainly seen some tense moments, not all of the conservative-leaning guest host appearances have led to fiery exchanges. Savannah Chrisley expected things to go south when she took a seat at the table, even issuing a warning to the co-hosts based on things they’d previously said about her parents.
However, Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar weren’t the “pain” Savannah Chrisley thought they would be, and she ended up saying they had a “blast.” We’ll have to see how Elisabeth Hasselbeck describes her week once she’s had a chance to debrief, but given the heated exchange with Megyn Kelly, I’m not expecting it to be wholly positive.
Tune in to see what the co-hosts get up to next, as The View airs at 11 a.m. ET weekdays on ABC and streams the next day with a Hulu subscription.
