In an exclusive published Thursday, the U.K.-based Daily Mail reported that ABC’s The View was interested in courting outgoing White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt to be a permanent co-host. The reported interest came amid on-going scrutiny of The View’s status as a purported “bona fide news program” by the Federal Communications Commission, leading to speculation it was a play to get the Commission off their back.
The Daily Mail said they had two sources that not only claimed Leavitt was under consideration, but also that there was positive support from the White House and President Trump:
But ABC's The View wants outgoing White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt to join the panel show, two sources tell the Daily Mail.
Leavitt is said to be considering the idea, which has been met with enthusiastic support from President Donald Trump and other White House officials.
Additionally, there seemed to be an interest in having her on for a trial run:
The View wants to host Leavitt as a guest soon after she leaves the White House as a bit of a test run, one source said, but producers are serious about adding her to the all-female daytime lineup as a permanent fixture.
The View’s reported eagerness to hire Leavitt was eyebrow raising given the co-hosts’ previous vocal hatred of her, attacking her looks and her age.
Moderator Whoopi Goldberg, who was 69 at the time, falsely claimed being press secretary was Leavitt’s “first job” ever and bloviated that she wanted “this young lady” to do her “homework.” “Let me explain something to you,” she grimaced. “Because, without that wokeness, you might not have that job!”
Joy Behar, 82 at the time, chimed in to jealously attack Leavitt’s looks and suggest she didn’t actually earn the job, just looked pretty for Trump. “And by the way, she's been probably put in the because according to Donald Trump she's a 10. You know that's what it is,” she shouted.
Reporting from CNN’s Brian Stelter suggests that The Daily Mail’s reporting that they wanted her as a permanent co-host was “sensationalized”:
The no-brainer booking move was immediately sensationalized by the Daily Mail this way: “Karoline Leavitt in secret talks to join TV’s most controversial show.”
Technically that’s true — a guest invite has been extended to Leavitt, an ABC source confirmed to CNN.
But the implication of the Mail’s headline is false. She would not be a guest host on the talk show or join in a more official capacity.
The View’s purported desperation to at least have Leavitt on as a guest came following a recent NewsBusters study exposing the 87-to-5 disparity between liberal and conservative guests. It was a point brought before the FCC by the Media Research Center.
Additionally, as of publication, The View’s ticket request page on 1iota showed ZERO politicians or anyone involved in politics lined up to be a guest in the first two weeks of Season 30. In previous years, they kicked off their seasons with major liberal figures. For seasons 29 and 28, their first guests were liberal Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson, respectively.
ABC did not respond to NewsBusters’ request for comment nor our addition questions listed below:
-Would the cast expand to 7 co-hosts?
-Would one of the current "conservative" co-hosts be dropped to make room?
-What's the calculus behind this move?
-Is it a play to get the FCC off the show's back?
-Is it a play to get the FCC off of ABC's back?
-How do you think the fan base would respond?
-What are the co-hosts' feelings about the move?
-Are the co-hosts ready for a colleague with strong pro-Trump opinions given how uniformly anti-Trump they are?
