Elisabeth Hasselbeck Leaving The View: Her Most Controversial Moments

From jabs with Bill Maher to sparring with the President, the right-wing conservative held nothing back

By Jenna Mullins Jul 10, 2013 8:58 PMTags
Elisabeth Hasselbeck, The ViewDonna Svennevik/ABC

Elisabeth Hasselbeck is departing The View for a new gig on Fox News, and she'll be leaving behind a legacy of controversial moments stemming from her arguments and interviews with President Obama, Melissa Etheridge and others who were caught in her right-wing crosshairs.

Here are five of the exiting Hasselbeck's most buzzed-about moments from her years on The View:

1. Confronting Bill Maher, 2011: After Maher made a joke about Hasslebeck on his HBO show, (he said the U.S. would send her back to Egypt to take Lara Logan's place), he appeared on The View to promote his new book, and got into it with the subject of his jab. Clearly, Hasslebeck did not find that joke particularly funny. Our favorite exchange between the two is below:

Hasslebeck: "I actually feel smarter sitting next to you."
Maher: "Really? I feel like I'm in high school sitting next to you."

2. Melissa Etheridge and Gay Marriage, 2008: While not the most explosive fight on The View, the two women did slightly butt heads over their views on same-sex marriage. When Etheridge asked if Hasslebeck supported gay marriage, the conservative cohost said for her, it wasn't a "personal issue" but a "legal issue." 

3. Erin Andrews' Dancing With the Stars Costumes, 2012: Hasslebeck commented on Andrews skimpy DWTS wardrobe, calling it poor taste for a victim of a peeping tom would wear such scandalous attire. "In the past three weeks she's been wearing next to nothing," Hasselbeck said. "I mean, in some way if I'm [the stalker], I'm like, ‘Man! I just could've waited 12 weeks and seen this—a little bit less, without the prison time!'" The next day, Hasslebeck apologized for her remarks, with watery eyes, natch.

4. President Obama's Visit, 2010: Never one to hold anything back, Hasslebeck peppered our President with questions about America's unemployment situation and voiced her lack of confidence in his plans. "It's frustrating to hear that saved-jobs boasting, because it doesn't feel that way to Americans when they don't have jobs and they're losing jobs," she told Obama. "How can you continue and your administration continue saying you're saving jobs when in fact people are losing jobs?"

5. Whoopi Goldberg and the N-Word, 2008: Hasslebeck got emotional and all choked up while battling Goldberg over the use of the N-word. "How are we supposed to then move forward if we keep using words that bring back that pain?" she tearfully asked her cohosts.