Joy Behar Blames Trump for Why ‘The View’ Changed: “He Was So Awful”

The OGs of the hit daytime talk show The View took a stroll down memory lane to discuss some of the most influential moments on the Emmy award-winning show for their 25th-anniversary episode, Behind The Table: A View Reunion on Hulu. And in the 30-minute retrospective, the ladies didn’t hold back about how — and why — the show has gotten more political over time. The answer? Donald Trump.

“The show is more political,” former co-host Debbie Matenopoulos says early in the episode. “When we were on, it was funny — and fun, it was variety.”

Behar, currently a cast member on the show, defended the turn and said, “It wouldn’t be if Trump weren’t president. Because he is the reason that we changed — cause he was so awful. And we had to talk about it.”

In 2016, President Donald Trump was elected to lead the country, but the opinionated anchors of the daytime talk show were not impressed with his juvenile actions. Even Meghan McCain, the daughter of John McCain, who often sparred with her co-hosts and played devil’s advocate, wasn’t a firm believer in Trump’s presidency.

But to Meredith Viera, who also co-hosted The View, the turn in conversation wasn’t just about the President, or Meghan McCain’s frequent fights — it was about the country. “It wasn’t just him, but what happened to the country as a result,” Viera said. “All the anxiety — and all the confusion, all the fighting.”

Starr Jones, meanwhile, thought the change in the direction of the show happened way before Trump’s presidency… And it was down to the producers, and two of the former stars.

“I remember when the show changed,” Jones noted. “I can track it back from the moment I thought it happened. When they went with that split-screen with Rosie O’Donnell and Elizabeth… I thought that if I had to be critical, that would be the moment I would be critical of because I thought no matter when we disagreed, we had the ability to disagree without being disagreeable.”

She continued, “And when they set that up… It was a setup. You can deny it all you want. They set that up.”

Firing back, Behar came to the show’s defense, noting that the producers were trying to angle both co-hosts for the viewers at home. “The answer to that was because they were arguing back and forth, they were sitting on opposite sides of the table, and you wouldn’t really see the discussion.”

Not so shockingly, the rest of the former co-hosts on the special disagreed. And so, the cycle continues.

The episode of Behind The Table: A View Reunion is now live on Hulu.