The View Is About To Make Some Big Changes With Its Hosts

ABC's talk show "The View" recently became the most popular daytime television show in America, as well as one of the most influential. The New York Times, for instance, labeled it as America's "Most Important Political TV Show" in 2019. After first exploding in popularity in the late 1990s, "The View" continued to make headlines into the 2000s for its raw and honest coverage of politics and world events from a female perspective, largely because ideologies of all stripes were represented.

Although there are consistently both liberal and conservative co-hosts — which has prevented the show from becoming an echo chamber — this ideological divide on-set has led to some legendary disputes and notable controversies between co-hosts and guests alike. 

While "The View" has continued to bring in generations of viewers, not all of the storied hosts have had such a positive experience while on the titular talk show. Meghan McCain, for example — the most recent conservative co-host — felt all but forced to leave the show in 2021, with one source claiming the dynamic on-set made her "miserable."

However, McCain's absence has led to the absence of a conservative perspective, which may be largely why ABC is about to announce some big changes to "The View" host lineup, according to reports. In light of McCain's dramatic exit from "The View" after four years as the show's token conservative panelist, ABC is now looking for a new permanent conservative co-host to replace her, according to the New York Post.

As it stands now, there appear to be two main frontrunners for the coveted position: Alyssa Farah Griffin, a former communications director for Donald Trump who has made a number of guest appearances on "The View" already, and Tara Setmayer, an anti-Trump conservative who often appears on CNN as a contributor and who has guest hosted on "The View" multiple times. Interestingly, Setmayer is also currently employed by ABC, as she is a regular contributor to ABC News. According to sources via the Post, however, Griffin — who has since made enemies with much of the right-wing for denouncing the January 6 assault on the Capitol and saying that Trump should have resigned in its aftermath — is likely the frontrunner. 

As it stands now, the current hosts of the view are Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sara Haines, and Sunny Hostin — all of whom are fairly vocal left-wingers, with the exception of the more moderate Haines, who has described herself as a "slightly left leaning moderate." According to the Post, a source close to ABC believes an announcement on the show's next co-host can be expected "before the season ends on August 5."