Elisabeth Hasselbeck’s return to “The View” as a guest host has further exposed rifts in the conservative media landscape, as she excoriated fellow Fox News alumna Megyn Kelly of disrespecting American troops.
Appearing as a guest panelist on the chat show this week, Hasselbeck has used the platform as she did during her tenure from 2003 to 2013, to express the point of view of the political right. In this instance, though, her ire was trained on a fellow traveler. Before the group discussed the U.S. assault on Iran — which has led to multiple deaths among U.S. soldiers — the show broadcast a clip from Kelly’s “The Megyn Kelly Show” in which the host declared “I don’t think those four servicemembers died for the United States. I think they died for Iran or for Israel.”
“Number one, Megyn Kelly’s clip that we ran before saying who those troops died for: How dare you, Megyn Kelly,” Hasselbeck said. “How dare you tell a military person who has sacrificed their lives for our nation, in our uniform, when they are sacrificing their lives in our uniform, how dare you tell them or their families or our nation what they died for.”
Co-panelist Joy Behar urged Hasselbeck to choose her words carefully, given Kelly’s reputation for counterpunching (“she’s like a roller derby queen,” Behar said). “I’m not afraid of her,” Hasselbeck went on. “I have my heart with my friends in the military — you do not get to authorize who they died for.”
Hasselbeck has a history of standing up for her perspective on “The View,” most notably in an infamous split-screen fight with then-moderator Rosie O’Donnell over the war in Iraq that turned personal. But this instance is particularly intriguing given that Hasselbeck and Kelly would seem to be on the same partisan side in most matters: Elsewhere in the broadcast, Hasselbeck said she had proudly voted for President Donald Trump in 2024, and Kelly endorsed him that cycle at a campaign rally. But Kelly has been dubious of the U.S. military action in Iran from the first, earning her criticism not merely from Hasselbeck but also from the politician she publicly supported. Speaking of Kelly, the president said in an interview published March 2 that Kelly should “study her history book a little bit.”
Source: variety.com
