With each host isolated in their separate homes, The View has been noticeably less dramatic in recent weeks. Leave it to Nancy Pelosi’s refrigerator to force them back into old habits.
It all started when the show aired part of a new Trump campaign attack ad that targets Pelosi for owning an expensive fridge filled with fancy ice cream when Americans around the country are going hungry during the coronavirus crisis.
Because the footage comes from a goofy segment the House Speaker did for James Corden’s Late Late Show, Joy Behar’s big takeaway was that Democratic politicians should avoid going on comedy shows. “They’re traps,” she said. “They get you to say things there because you feel you’re being funny. Leave it to the professionals and don’t go on comedy shows. Come on our show.”
At the same time, Behar called the ad “another distraction,” adding, “OK, it doesn’t look good maybe, she’s got an expensive refrigerator. Let’s go to Trump Tower and see what kind of refrigerator he has.”
Unsurprisingly, Meghan McCain saw things differently.
After tweeting the night before that the ad was a “savage blow,” she upgraded it to a “kill shot” on The View.
“It’s not the ice cream that’s in her fridge, it’s the fact that she's standing behind giant refrigerators, multiple ones that cost $24,000 each,” McCain said. “And you’re right, Joy, politicians are wealthy, Trump is wealthy, but I think in this specific moment, optics are narratives. I don’t make the rules of politics, this is just how it works.”
“Trust me when I say this, it will play very well in the middle of the country,” McCain added before pivoting to an attack on Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). “You have the two arguably most famous Democratic women in the country, I think, botching a major, major conversation right now.”
Sunny Hostin, meanwhile, called the ad “manufactured Fox News outrage,” adding, “They’re talking about ‘but her freezer, but her freezer!’ I’m really worried about the bodies that I saw being put into freezers in New York. That’s what I’m worried about.”
As Whoopi Goldberg tried to wrap up the segment, McCain jumped into say, “I’m not someone who’s susceptible to fear-mongering at all. And I used to work at Fox News so I think the idea that I’m, like, fear-mongering in this way, I’m not.”
“This isn’t manufacturing outrage,” she added. “I too am scared and worried about the body bags in refrigerators in New York City. Of course I am.”
She continued talking but Goldberg cut her off. “Yes?” McCain asked.
“I was trying to let you finish because we’re trying to go, but finish your point,” Goldberg replied.
“No, it’s fine,” McCain said tersely, proving that the hosts don’t have to be in the same room for things to get incredibly tense.