Bill Maher suggested the female panel who host The View are an embarrassment to their gender.
During a discussion with Drew Barrymore on his Club Random podcast that aired on Monday, the talk show host critically questioned whether the hosts of the ABC show are truly suited to represent women.
‘And I did [the show] like a year ago. And I like everyone,’ he stated. ‘But I don’t know if they’re really, at this moment, the best advertisement for women.’
He added: ‘I’m friendly with some of the ladies on [the program] and I love them, but that show’s a lot.
‘You know, I love Whoopi and Joy. Those are the two I really know,’ he continued.
Barrymore responded by saying the show simply adheres to ‘a format’, prompting Maher – a staunch Democrat – to comment: ‘They say some things that are, like, not helpful, to say, elections.’
Barrymore, aged 50, commended the progressive for ‘seeing all angles.’ Meanwhile, the show, featuring Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, Ana Navarro, Sara Haines, and Alyssa Farah Griffin, has faced criticism for doing the exact opposite.
Just recently, a study by the Media Research Center revealed the show had hosted 102 liberal-leaning guests this year without including a single conservative. The show is currently on hiatus until September.
Bill Maher questioned if the View’s hosts were genuinely qualified to represent women during his conversation with Drew Barrymore on his podcast Monday, shortly after Donald Trump called for the show’s cancellation
‘The View’ – hosted by Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, Ana Navarro (not pictured), Sara Haines, and Alyssa Farah Griffin – has recently come under fire for booking mostly liberal guests, and Maher made clear he isn’t a fan of their slanted approach to politics
Just before the break, the Trump administration called for the show’s cancelation after Behar claimed on-air the president was ‘jealous’ of his predecessor Barack Obama.
Behar had been responding to Trump’s insistence that Obama should be criminally prosecuted for ‘treason’ over what Trump has called the Russian ‘hoax’ during the 2016 election.
‘It’s no surprise that “The View’s” ratings hit an all-time low last year,’ a White House spokesperson said in response. ‘[Behar] should self-reflect on her own jealousy of President Trump’s historic popularity before her show is the next to be pulled off air.’
On Wednesday, former panelist – and outspoken Trump critic – Rosie O’Donnell weighed in.
She claimed ABC was in the midst of ‘reviewing the [show’s] liberal bias’ following the release of the Media Research study.
She claimed the ‘review’ was ‘code’ for the show’s impending cancellation and that her old network was in the process of scrubbing ‘any program that doesn’t align with Trumpism.’
‘This isn’t about bias – this is about obedience,’ she wrote in a post to TikTok, after years of back-and-forths with the commander in chief that go back to the early 2000s.
During his most recent appearance on the program in May 2024, Maher found himself grilled over his support for Israel by the all-female panel
‘You know, I love Whoopi and Joy. Those are the two I really know,’ Maher told Barrymore in a touchy feely sitdown
Pictured, the panelists hosting Bill Clinton and author James Patterson on the show in June. a Media Research Center study found the show had welcomed 102 liberal-leaning guests this year and not a single conservative. The show is currently on hiatus until September
‘Because it’s not enough to run the country into the ground[.] You have to control what people see[,] what they hear[,] what they think,’ she said.
The View, she added, is ‘a little too much woman – a little too much truth’ for the conservative.
Maher, meanwhile, recently took issue with an offhand comment from Goldberg that compared life as a black American to living in Iran.
During his most recent appearance on the program in May 2024, he was grilled by Hostin over his support for Israel, amid its war in Gaza.
Last week, a source pushed back on the claim the program does not welcome conservative talking points
‘Without going into detail about the show’s booking process, there is wide outreach across the aisle,’ the insider said.
In May, multiple outlets reported that Disney – ABC News’ parent company – and the network had asked the hosts to tone down their political rhetoric.
The women found the requests ‘silly,’ the Daily Beast reported, with sources telling the publication the group ultimately decided ‘they were just going to keep doing their thing.’
Daily Mail contacted ABC News for comment.
