“The View” Needs a Conservative

By Emma Bennett

Now that Meghan McCain has departed from ABC’s The View, many are wondering who will replace her as the token conservative on the panel. McCain took her seat at the co-host desk at the beginning of Season 20 in 2017 and after three full seasons, her stint there has come to a close. For years, The View has been a liberal self-congratulatory circle for women over 50 to hear their own views on trivial subjects. McCain brought a breath of fresh air to this progressive pageant. Her spot must be filled by a conservative boss babe who uses the show as a bully pulpit to advance our principles and ideas amid an unwelcoming audience.

Since McCain left, viewers of The View have made it increasingly clear they are beyond excited for “daytime TV's favorite villain” to make her swift exit from the network. This makes complete sense when you take into consideration that the Left hates breathing the same air as we do. It’s amazing they even gave us the opportunity to defend our opinions on a nationally recognized platform in the first place. Afterall, people who don’t even watch the show love to hate McCain purely because she’s the daughter of a late prominent Republican. 

In August of 1997, journalist Barbera Walters had the idea of a television program for women by women. Walters said she had “...always wanted to do a show with women of different generations, backgrounds, and views.” She set her dream into motion and a daytime talk show was born, featuring five outspoken ladies from different backgrounds, generations, and political persuasions who would discuss pop culture and daily topics while dabbling in intelligent debate. 

While The View doesn’t advertise itself as an explicitly political show, these women are notorious for their love of talking politics. Producers have stated time and time again how valuable it is to promote civil discourse on air, allowing for the ground to remain neutral and for co-hosts to agree to disagree. 

But the Season 25 co-host scoreboard doesn’t really embody that mission. Let’s be real, it never did. First, we have Sunny Hostin, who definitely identifies as a Democrat. Whoopi Goldberg is no doubt a Democrat. Joy Behar is another Democrat and, finally, we have Sara Haines who “leans left,” according to her own bio description. There was never much agreeing to disagree, either. It’s usually been the same thoughts ricocheting off the walls, back and forth, in different tones. And that, my friends, is what we call an echo chamber.  

The View isn't an entirely political show, so let’s put politics aside for a second. These women discuss all kinds of topics and issues, so why would the political affiliations of The View’s co-hosts really matter? Well, aside from being completely off track from Walter’s initial mission for the show, our core values differ. That's the bottom line. No matter what issues or topics are being discussed, our values are ingrained so deeply in us that they subconsciously show up in our stances on most topics of conversation. 

Here’s the deal. Personally, I’m not the hugest Meghan McCain fan. Many principled conservatives aren’t because of her record of kow-towing to the Left on more than one occasion. But here’s the thing, the dislike for McCain doesn't stem from her difference in beliefs or policies, but rather that she isn't an accurate representation of true conservatism. McCain repeatedly failed to defend our values throughout the course of her 3 seasons as a co-host. Don't get me wrong, though, McCain was definitely the only source of any intellectual diversity on The View. But come on, it's not like that is increasingly difficult when the rest of the co-hosts think with one brain cell. 

The View supporters are stating that whoever producers hire to be McCain’s replacement may end up making right of center consumers wish she’d come back. That just goes to show that McCain was pretty moderate. But hey, if producers are really considering filling McCain’s seat with a conservative woman, how about we shoot for someone who is actually in touch with the modern GOP and the voters? We are desperately lacking on that front. Plus, she would be the mouthpiece for the other half of the country, so she might as well be an accurate and admirable representation. And if all else fails, put me in coach.

Photo via @theconservateur