Jenny McCarthy Reveals Barbara Walters Told Her to ‘Act Republican’

Back in 2013, Jenny McCarthy was brought on to replace conservative co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck on the ABC talk show “The View,” but she left the program less than a year later with little explanation as to why. Now, McCarthy is opening up about something she was told by show runner Barbara Walters that offers some insight into how uncomfortable her time on the show really was.

The Daily Caller reported that McCarthy claimed that Walters told her to “act Republican” when she appeared on the panel, which was full of liberals at the time.

“When I was on there it was hilarious because they initially had me come on because they wanted me to be the pop culture girl,” McCarthy told talk show host Andy Cohen during an appearance on “Watch What Happens Live!”

She went on to explain that though the original plan was for her to be the “pop culture” host, this did not work out because Walters, 89, did not understand any of her references.

“Barbara [Walters] didn’t know who anybody was pop culture-wise and they came in my dressing room and said, ‘Can you just act Republican so we have another point of view,’” McCarthy said. “And I said, ‘How do I act Republican?’ So then they figured out how to get a Republican.”

“The View” has always been an extremely liberal show, but since McCarthy’s time on it, Walters has tried to have at least one conservative on the panel to offer a different point of view. Conservative Nicolle Wallace replaced McCarthy and also spent just one season on the show, and these days, both Abby Huntsman and Meghan McCain are appearing on the program to offer a conservative viewpoint.

“I love her on ‘The View,’ they needed an opposite point of view, in order to be ‘The View’ you need different sides,” McCarthy said of McCain.

The revelation that Walters was instructing a liberal to pretend to be a conservative, rather than simply hiring a Republican, shows just how far leftwing “The View” really is as a show. It’s indicative of the fact that Walters and ABC would rather hire someone to “fake” being conservative than deal with a real Republican. Huntsman and McCain clearly have their work cut out for them as conservatives on this show, and our hearts go out to them both!