The cohosts of The View started Tuesday’s (July 22) edition with a lively discussion of the latest news surrounding the cancellation of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert that revealed a nickname cohost Joy Behar is supposedly censored from saying.
Most recently, Stephen Colbert reacted to Donald Trump‘s insistence that he “absolutely love[s]” CBS’s decision to cancel the late-night show on Monday night’s episode and had a few contemporaries in the crowd showing their support for him, including Anderson Cooper, Andy Cohen, Jimmy Fallon, John Oliver, Jon Stewart, and Seth Meyers.
After reviewing footage of Colbert’s message to Trump (“Go f*** yourself,” he said, among other things), along with Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show segment on the matter in which he called his own parent network’s decision an act born of “fear and pre-compliance.”
When asked by moderator Whoopi Goldberg whether the cohosts agreed with Stewart’s analysis of the situation, Alyssa Farah Griffin noted that the financial strains of the show may have been valid but questioned the full-scale cancellation move. “Was he given a chance? Did they say you need to turn around the economics of the show? I have loved Stephen Colbert. I’m an elder millennial. We grew up on him. I’ve loved him for so many years. I think he would have taken a pay cut. I think it would have been necessary layoffs to be able to keep that iconic show and brand on air, and the idea of taking down the whole Late Show, not just Colbert and go with a cheaper host or a political I think that it’s both [political and financially driven].”
Behar was less compelled by the money matters. “It’s always been the role of the court jester to make fun of the king. That is the role of comedians. I have said on this show… ‘When they start coming for the comedians, all bets are off.’” She then looked back at some of Trump’s most memorable reactions to negative jokes about him, including those made by Barack Obama at the 2011 White House Correspondents’ Dinner. “He’s such a vengeful guy that he went after Obama, after that. He cannot take a joke, and that’s what these guys are doing. And I love that they’re all sticking together.”
She also questioned why Trump is so affected by jokes made at his expense when he is known for his disparaging nicknames and heckling politicians on social media. “Why is it that this guy could call any name he wants on anybody? ‘Lil Marco.’ ‘This one’s stupid.’ “This one’s an idiot.’ We’re not allowed to say anything like that on this show in particular, and I accept that, and I respect that.” She then revealed the name she might want to call him if allowed, saying, “I’m not going to start calling him The Orange Menace, even if that’s what he is.”
Behar’s wouldn’t be the first nickname for Trump revealed on the show. Goldberg consistently calls Trump “You Know Who” and briefly called him “Taco D” earlier this summer after reports that financial analysts were calling him TACO, short for “Trump Always Chickens Out.”
Sunny Hostin answered Behar’s question by saying, “It’s classic bullying behavior, right? They can dish it out, but they can’t take it.” As for the main question of the day, Hostin said she wasn’t sure if the Late Show cancellation was purely financial or political but said, “If it is political, then everyone should be concerned. People on the right should be concerned. People on the left should be concerned. Because it’s very clear that if it is political, this is the dismantling of our democracy. This is the dismantling of our Constitution… The First Amendment is the first amendment for a reason, and that is freedom of the press, freedom of speech, freedom to speak truth to power. If that is taken away, if the comedians are being attacked, then that means our constitution is being dismantled. That means every rubric of our democracy is being dismantled. And I think every single person should be really, really concerned about it.” After noting some of the possible investigations to come over the matter, she added, “If we find out it is political, what are we going to do as a country? We must protect our Constitution, and we must protect our democracy.”
Goldberg closed out the conversation by saying that she has her “own thoughts” about the situation and predicts “people will survive this in ways that we’re not anticipating” but wouldn’t reveal them on air. “I don’t want to give the other side the power over what I’m thinking,” she said.
The View, weekdays, 11 a.m. ET, ABC