View Co-Hosts Clash Over How Biden Should Move On From His Hot Mic Gaffe

The hosts of "The View" have always been unafraid to voice their strong opinions, even if their views are at odds with each other. And the January 26 episode was no different. Hosts Whoopi Goldberg, Sara Haines, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, and guest co-host Lisa Ling decided to broach the topic of President Joe Biden's controversial interaction with a reporter at a press conference on January 24.

The incident took place after Fox News reporter Peter Doocy asked the president if he believed "inflation is a political liability" as the members of the media were being escorted out of the room at the end of the conference. Without knowing that his microphone was still turned on, Biden responded under his breath, calling Doocy a "stupid son of a b****."

Now, this is not the first time the Biden administration has had issues with Fox News specifically, and Biden himself has long been known to curse like a sailor. But this time, Doocy told Fox News that the president actually called him and personally apologized after the incident.

This topic caused a flurry of disagreement amongst the hosts of "The View."

The first to call President Joe Biden out for his unsavory behavior on "The View" was guest host Lisa Ling. Ling was dissatisfied with the president's use of name-calling and thought it was a bad example to set for the children of America.

After Biden's hot mic diss, Peter Doocy told Sean Hannity that the president called him "within about an hour of that exchange" and apologized. "He said, 'It's nothing personal, pal,'" he recalled. " ... I made sure to tell him that I'm always gonna try to ask something different than what everybody else is asking. And he said, 'You got to.'" While Doocy "appreciated" his apology, he added, "I don't need anybody to apologize to me. He can call me whatever he wants as long as it gets him talking! I think that's enough."

Host Sunny Hostin believed that Biden's apology to Peter Doocy redeemed the president because it was the right thing to do, but to this, Ling countered that Biden should apologize to the American people as well for setting such a bad example. At this point, many of the hosts were chorusing their dissent. Whoopi Goldberg defended Biden, saying that what the president did was purely human nature. "Sometimes when people ask you endless stupid questions from one particular place... you just lose it for a second," she asserted. Joy Behar pointed out that Biden's apology displays the president's respect for the press; unlike former president Donald Trump, but Ling took issue with the constant comparison of the two presidents. 

Ultimately, the hosts decided to agree to disagree, but there's no doubt Biden's hot mic gaffe will continue to make headlines.