A View to a Feud

Rosie O'Donnell wasn't going out without a fight.

Before she leaves The View next month, the boisterous talk-show maven made sure she engaged in at least one more war of words with her more conservative-minded cohost, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, who has become O'Donnell's main sparring partner when it comes to politics and international conflicts.

Although Hasselbeck told Extra after Wednesday's show that she and her fellow chat mates were used to debating each other on camera and that most issues are "dealt with in the moment," the heated verbiage flying around on the air this morning certainly made it look as if O'Donnell and Hasselbeck were ready to take it outside.

Even the T-word ("Trump") was invoked more than once.

It all started when Joy Behar, inspired by recent comments made by Al Gore and Jimmy Carter, started reading a list she'd made of reasons why President George W. Bush should be removed from office (the last being "he can't pronounce the word nuclear").

"I listened to you yesterday," Behar told Hasselbeck as the former Survivor contestant simultaneously offered up her own take on the administration, but the sound of mingling voices continued to prevail.

Once the words "the enemy is in Iraq" crept out of Hasselbeck's mouth, however, O'Donnell chimed in as well, asking Hasselbeck whether Iraq ever attacked this country.

"No, I'm saying al Qaeda," Hasselbeck clarified.

First, as Behar tried to keep the two from interviewing, rather than just chatting with, each other, O'Donnell said that this was why she wasn't going to engage in this debate:

"Here's how it gets spun in the media: Rosie—big, fat, lesbian, loud Rosie—attacks innocent, pure, Christian Elisabeth. I'm not doing it!"

"I just don't understand why it's my fault if people spin words that you put out there or phrases that suggest things," Hasselbeck said. "And I gave you an opportunity two days ago to clarify the statement that got you in trouble on all those things."

O'Donnell pointed out that Hasselbeck never publicly defended her when certain media pundits suggested that she had called U.S. troops "terrorists" during a previous debate about the war in Iraq.

(On Monday's show, O'Donnell asked Hasselbeck whether she believed the media hype, and her generally more soft-spoken—for The View—cohost encouraged O'Donnell to clarify what she meant.)

"Do you believe that I think our troops are terrorists? And you would not even look me in the face, Elisabeth, and say, 'No, Rosie,' " O'Donnell continued.

"Because you are an adult and I am certainly not going to be the person for you to explain your thoughts," Hasselbeck retorted. "You are an adult and I am certainly not going to be the person to explain your thoughts. They're your thoughts! Defend your own insinuations!"

"And I am not poor little Elisabeth," she added.

"That's why I'm not going to fight with you anymore, because it's absurd, so for three weeks you can say all the Republican crap you want," O'Donnell said.

"It's a lot easier to fight someone like Donald Trump, isn't it, because he's obnoxious," Hasselbeck suggested.

"I never fought him—he fought me," O'Donnell said. "I told a fact about him, he didn't like it."

Then, after Behar and guest cohost Sheri Shepard pretended to get up and bring the show to a close, the name-calling started.

"I asked you if you believed what the Republican pundits were saying—you said nothing, and that's cowardly," O'Donnell said accusingly.

"Do not call me a coward," Hasselbeck told her as the TV feed switched to a split screen to show each woman's reaction. "Because, number one, I sit here every single day, open my heart and tell people what I believe…It was not cowardly, it was honest."

"Is there no commercial in this show?!" Behar exclaimed as the 10-minute dustup neared its bitter end.

"I'll tell you what's cowardly," Hasselbeck continued. "Asking a rhetorical question? That is cowardly."

According to Hasselbeck, despite the fact that this exchange led to what must have been a tremendously uncomfortable commercial break, it most likely will not result in an irreparable rift.

"I honestly think, I believe that we are mature women who can resolve this," the 29-year-old pregnant mother of one told Extra. "I hope we can. I would hope that a disagreement or a heated debate wouldn't be the end of a relationship...This happens all the time with people…to not address something that was obviously starting to bug us would be a disservice to ourselves."

The tempestuous pair have maintained, up till now, at least, that they are friends behind the scenes.

O'Donnell posted a response on her Website later, written in her usual free-verse style:

"it may be time/ to be done/ endings r hard 4 all/ emotions r high/ talking is tough"

Coincidentally (perhaps), O'Donnell has said that she will not be going to work tomorrow and will instead be taking the day off to celebrate wife Kelli Carpenter's 40th birthday.