President Donald Trump is not happy with the state of television at the moment, and the feeling is mutual. Trump cut funding to NPR and PBS; Stephen Colbert called the Paramount and Trump $16 million settlement a bribe, and coincidentally got his show cancelled; South Park made fun of CBS canceling Colbert and gave Trump a tiny penis. What could possibly be next? Glad you asked: let’s try beef with a morning talk show. Trump’s beef with The View has been going on for almost 20 years, starting with Rosie O’Donnell and continuing with Joy Behar this week after she had some choice words for Trump and his administration.
What did Joy Behar say on air?
On July 23, during Hot Topics, Behar criticized the current President’s comments against President Barack Obama, where he said he was “guilty of treason.” “First of all, who tried to overthrow the government on January 6th? Who was that again?” Behar stated on the broadcast. “The thing about him is he is so jealous of Obama, because Obama is everything that he is not. Trim. Smart. Handsome. Happily married. And can sing Al Green’s song ‘Let’s Stay Together’ better than Al Green.”
How did the White House respond?
The Trump administration had a lot to say. In a statement to Entertainment Weekly on July 23, White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers called Behar an “irrelevant loser suffering from a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome.” Rogers also claimed that The View’s ratings “hit an all-time low” last year — the show fought back by sharing that: “The View is ranking No. 1 in households and total viewers among all network daytime talk shows and news programs for the fifth straight season.”
When asked by Fox News on July 24 if The View is now in the “crosshairs” of the administration, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr did not deny it, sharing “Look, it’s entirely possible that there’s issues over there. And stepping back, this broader dynamic, once President Trump has exposed these media gatekeepers and smashed this facade, there’s a lot of consequences. I think the consequences of that aren’t quite finished.”
Is the show actually going on hiatus?
Yes, but not because of Trump. On July 24, Behar revealed that after Friday’s episode, the show will go on its regularly scheduled Summer hiatus — it has nothing to do with Trump and reportedly follows the same schedule the show has been on for years. Whoopi Goldberg also stated that the show will return in September.
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- Trump Can Hurt PBS and NPR, But He Can’t Kill Them
After a tense week for TV, Joy Behar says The View is going on its summer hiatus next week.
