The shouting match between co-hosts Joy Behar and Meghan McCain that capped off Monday’s tribute to former President George H.W. Bush went unmentioned on Tuesday’s episode of The View.
But the lingering tension between the two women was unmistakable.
At one point during their discussion about the Mueller investigation, Behar noted that Donald Trump is “the only president who has his own TV channel in history,” adding, “Nixon didn't have it. So he has Fox News and Fox will just back him up.” When former Fox News host Abby Huntsman interrupted with, “I would be careful about that,” Behar said, “Let me finish the thought. His failure as a president is their failure as a station. They have everything invested in propping him up and backing his lies.”
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From there, Huntsman got Behar to admit that there were some “hard-hitting” questions posed to Trump in Chris Wallace’s recent interview with him. “That was Fox News,” she said. “There are a number of folks there that very much push back on him and are not in his camp that are great journalists.”
“Bret Baier, Kennedy, Harris Faulkner, Shep Smith, I could go on and on and on,” McCain chimed in. “There are a lot of great people at Fox News.”
It’s understandable that both women were on edge Tuesday morning following a report from The Daily Mail claiming that after the show cut to commercial on Monday Behar yelled, “Get this bitch under control” and told producers “If this shit doesn't stop I’m quitting this damn show. I can’t take this much more.”
According to that website’s unnamed source, Behar added, “I’ve tolerated a lot of shit on this show but I’m at my wits’ end with this entitled bitch. Enough already! Enough already! I’m not playing nice any longer,” all within earshot of the studio audience.
Meanwhile, People quoted another source who said Behar and McCain are “totally fine” following Monday’s confrontation. “They had a disagreement on-air, which is totally expected in that job,” the source said. “But they are both professionals. They seemed completely fine afterwards.”
Earlier in Tuesday’s opening segment, Whoopi Goldberg said that people have been “waiting for the smoking…” but then stopped herself before getting to the word “gun.” She said, “I don’t want to say the word, but here’s the smoking flute.”
“Are we not allowed to say that anymore?” McCain could be heard asking off screen. Her question went unanswered but surfaced again towards the end of the discussion when Huntsman brought up the possibility for Donald Trump Jr. getting indicted.
“I don’t like living in hypotheticals in life in general,” she said. “Like, as a general rule, we’re not there yet.” She added, “I’ve been promised many times before, including on this show, that we had it, that we had the smoking gun. And I will still say ‘gun’ on national television.”
Goldberg explained that she didn’t use the word “gun” because their guest on Tuesday’s show was Rep. Steve Scalise, who was shot by a gunman during a congressional baseball practice last June. “I didn’t want anyone to misunderstand the joke,” she said. “That’s why I didn’t do it, just so we’re all clear.”
McCain then complained that she didn’t realize they “weren’t allowed” to say the word “gun” anymore. “I don’t know what the line is for today,” she said, rolling her eyes.
“This was just me, trying to be thoughtful,” Goldberg said, before once again throwing to commercial amidst some icy tension with McCain.
