On Friday night, Bill Maher had on Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, and they both criticized Whoopi Goldberg of The View for comparing life for black Americans to women living under Iran's oppressive regime. The comments may have served as a wake-up call for moderates and liberals alike to really think long and hard on whether or not an appearance on The View will help their public perception. 

Brian Flood wrote a Fox News piece on the situation and cited questions asked to independent journalist Tara Palmeri, she claimed that for Maher to say Democrats should steer clear from the show is too much, but she then went on to say: “So what about what Whoopi thinks? You don’t have to agree with her. You can go on ‘The View’ and actually engage with her in a way that points out the unreasonability of her comment, or the shock value of it, and if you actually win that debate, and you’re a Democrat, I think it shows you’re a more moderate voice." 

She said: "Whoopi and Joy and the others, they feel like they can say whatever they want, which they can -- it’s a free country, but it doesn’t reflect the conversation at any dinner table unless you’re in Brooklyn or Seattle."

Comments like these showed that The View could be trending in a direction where Democrats don’t just go on for publicity, but to appeal to a more moderate audience outside big blue cities by challenging some of the things that the mostly liberal panelists say. 

For example, during the presidential race, candidate Kamala Harris went on The View in an attempt to win over voters. In hindsight, The View gave her a layup question, asking her if she would have done something differently than President Biden during the past four years. Instead of challenging the question and establishing a clear difference between the Biden administration and her prospective administration, she said: “There is not a thing that comes to mind. And I’ve been a part of most of the decisions that had an impact.”

The decision to not take the opportunity to push back on The View and garner the attention of moderate voters was a big reason why she lost the 2024 presidential election. It showed that Maher was right, if Democrats aren’t willing to push back sometimes against the outlandish takes of The View, it would be wise to steer clear.

The 2024 presidential election results showed that the far-left bias within mainstream media doesn’t necessarily work in the Democrats favor anymore. Members of the Democratic party may be beginning to realize that shows like The View aren’t the way to go anymore. Heritage Foundation media fellow Tim Young agreed, saying the ABC program “seems to have become the testing ground for far left" talking points. 

Our very own associate editor, Nicholas Fondacaro, put it expertly when asked by Fox News about Maher's comments, “"ABC has allowed The View to craft a fantasy world for themselves where the wealthy celebrities are somehow oppressed and on the verge of becoming political prisoners. The show promotes a toxic victim mentality that leads them to think they’re treated worse in America than they would be in Iran, all while shouting it on a national TV show… Democrats would be best served by distancing themselves from the show, especially when they make comments like Sunny Hostin, who suggested that opposing wokeness is ‘ungodly.’"