ABC News executives are scrambling to address the unmistakable gap between the viewpoints on The View and the political reality highlighted by Donald Trump’s decisive 2024 election win. ABC is now reportedly in “panic mode” as they look to bring a pro-Trump voice onto their top-rated daytime talk show.
For years, The View has been a reliably left-leaning platform, with hosts like Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, and Sunny Hostin expressing unwavering Democratic perspectives, alongside moderate or anti-Trump Republicans like Ana Navarro and Alyssa Farah Griffin. But with Trump winning 46% of women voters, it’s clear ABC’s executives are feeling the pressure to diversify perspectives on the panel.
A source close to the network said the overhaul is driven by higher-ups who recognize that a significant portion of the viewing public wants to see their own views represented. As one ABC insider put it, “At the end of the day, these changes aren’t about politics.
They are about economics.” Ratings are the ultimate driver here, as executives worry that alienating conservative or moderate audiences could eventually sink viewership numbers for The View and other programs.
And they’re not the only ones feeling the heat—MSNBC, another left-leaning network, has experienced a sharp decline in its viewership since Trump’s win, with The Rachel Maddow Show losing around a million viewers compared to its October average. MSNBC has averaged only 550,000 viewers since Election Day, down 39% from October, signaling the dissatisfaction or burnout of its once-loyal audience.
The network’s ratings plunge has led some analysts, like Martin Kaplan of the Norman Lear Center, to speculate that disillusioned MSNBC viewers are dealing with something akin to political PTSD. They’re choosing “self-care” over the constant stream of anti-Trump rhetoric, reflecting a broader fatigue with the combative tone that’s become a staple on certain networks.
But for ABC, adjusting The View isn’t just about addressing viewer burnout—it’s about embracing a pragmatic shift in programming. Sources say that, even as ABC privately acknowledges the problem, they understand that sticking to a one-sided approach may be unsustainable in the long run.
The push to find a pro-Trump panelist represents a conscious choice to move closer to their audience, however belatedly.
Meanwhile, on the industry side, conservative commentators like Megyn Kelly argue that networks like MSNBC may see this as an opportunity to part ways with polarizing figures like Joy Reid, whom Kelly has publicly criticized as one of “the most racist voices on television.”
