The Year in Re-View: The Best ‘View’ Moments of 2020

Wait, Abby Huntsman left The View THIS year? Yes, indeed she did. Just a few days into 2020, Huntsman announced that she would be leaving The View after just 15 months to work on her father John Huntsman Jr.’s Utah gubernatorial campaign. John Huntsman, a former Ambassador to Russia, ultimately lost the Republican primary to Lt. Gov Spencer Cox.

In hindsight, Huntsman’s departure amounted to little more than a blip on The View‘s 2020 radar, but at the time, the sudden nature of her exit created a headline-making controversy. Goodbye, Abby. We hardly knew ye!

“I feel like you’re the boogeywoman of the right, and I’m the boogeywoman on the left.”

As far as The View matchups are concerned, Meghan McCain vs Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is about as good as it gets. Back in February, AOC stopped by The View to stump for Sen. Bernie Sanders, who, at the time, was a frontrunner in the 2020 Democratic primary. McCain wasted no time before grilling AOC on socialism, which she insisted is “like the apocalypse” for conservatives.

Many guests would have rolled over under McCain’s steely gaze, but Ocasio-Cortez did no such thing. “It’s funny because progressive policies are aways talked about in 10-year price tags,” said the congresswoman. “Conservative policies are always talked about in one-year price tags.”

And the point goes to the boogeywoman of the right.

On March 11, which now feels like a lifetime ago, The View made history when it aired its first show without a live studio audience. Like many talk shows, The View staff felt that eliminating audiences would help curb the spread of COVID-19, but of course, it was only a matter of time (as in, one week) before the show transitioned to a fully-remote format.

That said, The View‘s first-ever audience-free episode was quite a doozy. A discussion about President Trump’s COVID-19 response went off the rails almost immediately when guest co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck began spouting misinformation and encouraged viewers to “pray that this coronavirus is extinguished.” Added Hasselbeck, “We shouldn’t be in a state of panic because what we’re doing, and taking cues from our president, is talking early, strong, bold actions to keep this at bay as much as we possibly can right now.”

Can someone get Freezing Cold Takes on the line?

For many Americans, the world changed practically overnight in mid-March. I still remember the evening that began with Tom Hanks testing positive for COVID-19 and ended with the entire NBA season grinding to a halt.

The following morning, Meghan McCain offered the first of many eerily accurate predictions about how the pandemic would affect Trump’s reelection chances. During a discussion about Trump’s first coronavirus address from the Oval Office, McCain said that the president’s “inability to emote” may end up causing him the election. “When you traffic in lies and misinformation for a long period of time,” she said, trailing off.
“The chicken’s coming home to roost right now.”

“It’s an entirely different thing than lying about a completely lethal disease that could kill god knows how many Americans,” concluded McCain. “He and Jared and Ivanka and the entire White House should know this could be the silver bullet that takes out this administration.”

As we now know, McCain was correct. The ongoing, worsening COVID-19 pandemic was a major factor in Biden’s election victory, with 55% of all voters saying that the coronavirus outbreak is “very important” to their vote, per a Pew Research poll from October.

Compared to years prior, 2020 was actually relatively tame, at least by View standards. However, the co-host’s COVID-induced anxiety finally reached a boiling point in May, when Meghan McCain had a meltdown so epic that Whoopi Goldberg had to throw the show to commercial to shut it down. Still, that wasn’t enough, as McCain continued to yell until the show’s voice-over narrator finally cut her off. You know it’s bad when even the narrator wants none of your shenanigans.

Content Warning: Violence

The women of The View often find themselves on opposite sides of issues, but in late May, they united to demand justice following the death of George Floyd. The co-hosts agreed that the officers responsible for Floyd’s death must be held accountable, as they committed a “blatant murder of an unarmed black man” in broad daylight. “These police officers should 100% be on trial for murder,” said Meghan McCain. “They are clearly already on trial in the court of public opinion.”

As May turned to June, The View continued to discuss issues of systemic racism and police brutality, but it was this broadcast, on May 27, that set the tone for weeks to come.

Despite criticizing Trump’s COVID-19 response earlier in the year, Meghan McCain found herself defending the president on June 16, as Americans took to the streets to protest police brutality. As she did for much of the month, the conservative co-host asked aloud why “going to a Trump rally is somehow much more dangerous than going to a rally in Brooklyn,” and she skewered the “hypocrisy” of the media for suggesting as much.

McCain’s outburst riled up Joy Behar, who repeatedly insisted that Trump doesn’t could care less about the pandemic. “Here’s a note to Trump supporters: he doesn’t care about you!” said the liberal co-host. “He doesn’t care about your health or your children’s health! He only cares that you come and supply kudos to his massive ego.”

“You make me defend him when you say things like, ‘He wants people to die!'” fired back McCain. “Let’s just be careful with our rhetoric right now. This is already a heightened time, and it’s already dangerous.”

As the two argued, Whoopi Goldberg attempted to throw the show to commercial twice, but failed. Lest anyone forget, not even Whoopi can stop the Joy vs Meghan tornado once it really gets going.

The View Season 24 kicked off with a bang when Republican congressional candidate Kim Klacik threw down with Joy Behar. When Klacik, who lost with flying colors to incumbent Rep. Kweisi Mfume, defended Trump’s record on COVID-19, Behar balked and insisted that the young conservative “put some blame on your president.”

“Is this Joy speaking? The same Joy that paraded around in blackface not too long ago?” replied Klacik, referencing a “beautiful African woman” Halloween costume Behar wore as a 29-year-old. “Come on, Joy, I don’t think you should be asking questions.”

Rather than simply ignore the dig, Behar yelled that the Black community “know[s] that was not blackface,” but an “homage.” Joy, what?

The interview is simply too bonkers to continue recapping, so just check it out below.

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It’s impossible to discuss the year in re-View without mentioning Meghan McCain’s new baby, Liberty Sage McCain Domenech. McCain announced her pregnancy in March, and she remained on air until just a few days before giving birth on September 28. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your political stance), the co-host remained on maternity leave throughout the lead-up to the election, which has taken a bit of wind out of The View‘s sails as it closes out the year. McCain has yet to announce when she will return to the panel, but at this point, it seems likely that she’ll remain off the air until January, when The View returns from its holiday hiatus.

It all comes down to this. For the past year — and really, for the past four years — The View has had Tuesday, November 3 circled on its calendar in bright red ink. While the co-hosts certainly achieved their desired result, it took a few days to get there, and by then, Whoopi Goldberg & Co. were ready to celebrate.

On Monday, November 9, the first show back after news outlets called the race for Joe Biden, Goldberg delivered the monologue to end all monologues when she told Trump voters, and the president himself, to “suck it up” and accept the loss. “

“When [Trump] was elected four years ago, Hillary Clinton didn’t come out and say, ‘Hey, wait a minute. This doesn’t feel right. Stop the count,'” said the longtime moderator. “All of you — suck it up! Suck it up like we sucked it up! Grow the pair for him that he can’t grow for himself.”

Of course, Trump and his supporters have yet to heed Goldberg’s advice. Which will come first: a Trump concession, or January 20, 2021?