LOS ANGELES - JUL 20: Whoopi Goldberg at the "A Night With Whoopi" Event at the 57 Windward on July 20, 2024 in Venice, CA. (Photo credit: Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock)
Hosts for one of the most-watched daytime news shows were recently asked to back off from criticizing President Donald Trump, according to a new report.
The Daily Beast reported Wednesday that both ABC News president Almin Karamehmedovic and Disney CEO Bob Iger communicated to the hosts of "The View" that their political coverage should be toned down in favor of softer, more celebrity-focused segments. The Beast cited unnamed sources who confided that the hosts didn't take kindly to the suggestion, with co-host Ana Navarro pointing out that a major sector of their audience watches them for political analysis.
The source emphasized that the request to talk less about the Trump administration was not an "edict" and that the hosts still had free rein to decide what topics to discuss for each episode. But the show's on-air talent still reportedly bristled at the suggestion.
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"This is what our audience wants," one of the hosts reportedly said during the exchange with executives. "Isn’t it gonna look kind of bad if we’re all of a sudden not talking about politics?
"The View" co-host Ana Navarro reportedly had a private conversation with Iger in which she thanked the Disney CEO for allowing them editorial control. And while Iger communicated that he still supported the show and the hosts, he echoed Karamehmedovic's wishes that the show's five hosts tone down their Trump criticism.
The Beast's source said that the suggestion from network executives to focus less on political topics was "based on viewer feedback," but the outlet noted that "The View" was the #1 daytime news show for the first quarter of 2025, beating out its top competitor shows on Fox News and NBC.
ABC — which is owned by Disney — settled a defamation lawsuit that Trump filed against the network last year, agreeing to pay him $15 million (along with an additional $1 million for legal expenses) with Trump arguing that ABC journalist George Stephanopoulos defamed him when saying that Trump was found liable for sexually assaulting writer E. Jean Carroll. Technically, the verdict was for sexual abuse rather than rape, though U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, who presided over the case, later clarified that in terms of the public's understanding, the two were the same.
Click here to read the Beast's report in full (subscription required).