ABC is showing teeth in its fight with the White House.
The network launched a defense of The View on Monday, running ads urging viewers to call out Donald Trump’s FCC directly.
The government body launched an investigation into the popular daytime talk show, which is co-hosted by Trump critics Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Ana Navarro, Sunny Hostin, Sara Haines, and former Trump aide Alyssa Farah Griffin, over the “equal time” rule that requires Democratic and Republican candidates to have equal airtime.
In a filing fighting the investigation last month, ABC called the probe “unprecedented, beyond the Commission’s authority, and counterproductive to the Commission’s stated goal of encouraging free speech and open political discussion,” before it began enlisting viewers’ help on Monday.
The ad uses the voice of the show’s creator, the late veteran journalist Barbara Walters, who says, “I had this idea for a show: Different women, different points of view.” The narrator then says, “The View has welcomed your favorite guests and covered the issues you care about for nearly 30 years. Now, the FCC wants to control who is allowed to appear on the show. Viewers, use your voice, scan this QR code. You have until July 6th.”
The QR code links to an “Express Comment” page on the FCC website, where viewers can voice their concerns about the FCC’s crackdown. The comments, according to the page, will be “filed into the official FCC proceeding” and “will be publicly available via the web.”
The show’s hosts have not mentioned the ad on-air, nor have they mentioned the investigation publicly since it began in February.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said on Fox News at the time, “If you are bona fide news, you don’t have to give candidates equal air time. But, Disney and The View have not established that that program is, in fact, bona fide news. We’ve started enforcement proceedings, taking a look at that. And, again, we’re going to hold broadcasters accountable.”
Trump has repeatedly lashed out at The View hosts over the years, including calling them “degenerates” and “dumb women” after the show had his 2024 opponent, Kamala Harris, on for an interview.
The hosts have continued to skewer Trump on everything from his war in Iran to the cost of living, and more during their “Hot Topics” segments.
Vice President JD Vance, who had previously slammed the program as “propaganda,” appeared on the show last Tuesday to promote his book, where he was grilled about his flip-flop on the president as well as Trump’s relationship with convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
