A history of the revolving conservative chair at The View: 'The most difficult seat to fill'

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Meghan McCain leaving 'The View' after four years on the show

Conservative 'The View' co-host Meghan McCain is leaving the show after four seasons.

With Meghan McCain's announcement last week that she is leaving her role as co-host of "The View," her departure raises questions as to why the ABC daytime show has faced so much turnover with conservative guests.

Over the years, conservative co-hosts have faced less-than-friendly feedback when sharing their opposing views to the liberal ladies, such as longtime co-hosts Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, and Sunny Hostin. A look back at some of those fiery exchanges could give a good indication as to why the conservative chair at the Hot Topics table has become something of a hot seat. 

Ramin Setoodeh, executive editor of Variety and author of "Ladies Who Punch: The Explosive Inside Story of ‘The View," said he had a good idea as to why the show has struggled with its conservative casting.

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"The View has had two successful conservative co-hosts in its 24-year history, Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Meghan McCain," he told Fox News. "It's the most difficult seat to fill. In between, the ratings reflected the show wasn't working. ABC News producers kept hiring conservatives - such as Candace Cameron Bure and Jedediah Bila - who viewers found to be conciliatory to the other co-hosts. The secret formula is finding a Republican who actually disagrees about policy and politics, but the more liberal stars of the show openly resent that." 

Meghan McCain (2017-2021)

In her tenure, McCain never seemed to have an issue expressing her opposing opinions, but she's often taken heat for it. Last month, in a debate over President Biden's treatment of the press following his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, "View" co-host Whoopi Goldberg said in frustration to McCain, "You can be how you always are," to which McCain fired back, "You can be how you always are!"

McCain also accused Behar of making nasty comments toward her upon her return from maternity leave, telling McCain she "did not miss" her.

"This is why you missed me so much when I was on maternity leave, you missed me so much. You missed fighting with me," McCain joked during a debate.

"I did not. I did not miss you," Behar replied.

"That’s so nasty, I was teasing," McCain responded.

Fox News contributor Joe Concha called that exchange a "whole bowl of wrong."

"Vigorous debate is one thing," he told Fox News. "Personal vitriol is another. When she returned from maternity leave, Joy Behar actually said she didn’t miss her. That’s a whole bowl of wrong." 

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McCain also often faced negative feedback in the press for her strong opinions and blunt tone. Recently, she caught flak for condemning U.S. athlete Gwen Berry, who protested the playing of the national anthem. Of Berry's demonstration, McCain declared, "It's not about you!" and argued her conduct was inappropriate while representing the U.S. Yet some outlets accused McCain of being selfish. 

McCain said she'll be leaving "The View" at the end of the month. 

Elisabeth Hasselbeck (2003-2013)

Elisabeth Hasselbeck, who shot to fame as a contestant on "Survivor" and would later serve as a co-host on "Fox & Friends," had one of the longest serving tenures on "The View," sitting at the Hot Topics table for a decade. As such, she was also in the middle of some of the most controversial moments on the show. Perhaps the most notable was in 2007 when Hasselbeck got into a screaming match with former co-host Rosie O’Donnell over the Iraq War.

In their ensuing battle, O'Donnell got personal.

"Let me tell you why I don’t wanna do it," she said. "Because here’s how it gets spun in the media: Rosie — big, fat, lesbian, loud Rosie — attacks innocent, pure, Christian Elisabeth. And I’m not doing it." 

Then, in 2019, audio surfaced of a distraught Hasselbeck sobbing behind the cameras after she felt co-host Barbra Walters belittled her during a discussion on the "morning after" birth control pill. While Hasselbeck was speaking on the subject, Walters interrupted her to say that they had to "learn how to discuss these things in some sort of a rational way," right before cutting to commercial. During the break, a sobbing Hasselbeck could be heard telling Joy Behar that she felt as though Walters humiliated her and threatened to quit the show right there.

"F—k that," she's heard saying in the clip. "I’m not going to sit there and get reprimanded on the air. It’s not OK to sit there and get reprimanded on the air."

Producer Bill Geddie convinced her to return to the show just minutes before filming ended, according to reports.

Once the clip surfaced, Hasselbeck explained the outburst in a post on Instagram, writing, "I was pregnant with Taylor and a big conversation about the value and the lives of the unborn took place at 'The View.' It was a battle — but not of the flesh. I used fighting words because I believe that God decides the value of the lives of babies."

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Nicolle Wallace (2014-2015)

While Wallace is now more known for her left-wing political program on MSNBC, during the 2014-15 season she was considered "The View's" conservative co-host. But she did not last long in the role and was reportedly fired for being ill-informed on pop culture and not being combative enough with her colleagues during their heated discussions. 

Wallace previously served as communications director for President George W. Bush and went on to work for the ill-fated 2008 John McCain presidential campaign. She is now one of numerous disgruntled ex-Republicans making a living blasting their former party on cable news.

Candace Cameron Bure (2015-2016)

Candace Cameron Bure, the former "Full House" and "Fuller House" star, had a short stay as "The View's" conservative voice, co-hosting just one year from 2015 to 2016. 

One of Bure's most memorable exchanges occurred between her and former Disney star Raven-Symoné in 2015 as the two debated whether or not a Christian baker in Colorado had the right to refuse to bake a cake for a gay wedding.

"I don't think this is discrimination at all," Bure said. "This is about freedom of association, it's about constitutional rights, it's about First Amendment rights. We do have the right to still choose who we associate with."

"I refuse to associate myself with you right now," Raven-Symoné responded. "Is that OK?"

While Bure told Good Housekeeping in an exit interview that her experience on the show helped her "grow," she also admitted it was "the most difficult job" she'd had to date and that she found the constant political debates "tiring." She also recalled feeling stressed knowing that she would always have the minority view.

"It's harder, so you always feel like you're fighting to speak your opinion," she said.

She was followed by the more libertarian-leaning Jedediah Bila for the 2016-17 season, who was then replaced by McCain.

Concha gave his best wishes to the person who ends up filling McCain's chair on a show that he says is "somehow more hard left than CNN."

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"Here’s hoping the person who fills Meghan’s chair is willing and able to push back hard and effectively on the predictable narrative and drumbeat of that program- which is somehow more hard left than CNN," Concha said. "We need more speech in this country, not less, and echo chambers are proudly tedious.

"Meghan McCain clearly had enough."