The View Struggling to Find The Type of Republican It Wants to Replace Meghan McCain

The View’s co-hosts — Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin — are pressuring ABC News management to expedite its search for the show’s next full-time conservative host. According to Politico, The View’s cast has expressed their displeasure to executive producer Brian Tenta at having to introduce new guest hosts each week.

ABC has rotated a variety of conservatives since Meghan McCain left the show in August — including Condoleezza Rice, S.E. Cupp, Alyssa Farah, Morgan Ortagus, Gretchen Carlson, and Mia Love.

But like all job openings in television, the hiring process comes with a lengthy checklist. And ABC is struggling to find a conservative who checks up the necessary boxes.

“They will not consider a Republican who is a denier of the 2020 election results, embraced the January 6 riots, or is seen as flirting too heavily with fringe conspiracy theories or the MAGA wing of the GOP,” Politico reports. “But at the same time, the host must have credibility with mainstream Republicans, many of whom still support DONALD TRUMP.”

Moreover, ABC’s aware that simply adding a Never-Trumper conservative to the desk serves little purpose. The audience does not want perpetual nodding among the hosts. Market research found that The View’s audience wants to see the women argue. That finding reportedly hurt Ana Navarro’s chances of getting the full-time gig because producers believe she is too friendly with the other hosts.

However, it’s unclear if ABC would ultimately choose a conservative co-host who is more of an opponent than a punching bag. So while Goldberg, Behar, and Hostin want to debate the token conservative, they aren’t looking for a fair fight.

In November, NBC Sports reporter Michele Tafoya got after the cast on the topic of Colin Kaepernick. Hostin was visibly bothered after Tafoya exposed her lack of knowledge on Kaepernick’s backstory. We will see if Tafoya returns.

So ABC wants a conservative host who’s not too “MAGA,” not too soft, but also not too challenging. What a trio of qualifications.

For what it’s worth, the show’s management had an interest in trying out Fox News’ Kat Timpf, a frequent contributor on Gutfeld. Timpf, though, declined the invitation because of how the show often treats the sole conservative host.

ABC has not set a timetable for a final decision. For now, the program will continue to audition potential hosts at the start of 2022. I’d look for The View to name a permanent conservative co-host before the months leading into the 2022 midterms.