I saw it. In a strange turn of events I actually caught the on-air brawl between “View” co-hosts Rosie O’Donnell and Elisabeth Hasselbeck, which transpired Wednesday.
If you missed the dust-up, basically the crux of the argument was rooted in the fact O’Donnell had unresolved feelings regarding Hasselbeck’s failure to defend her when media outlets suggested that she had called U.S. troops “terrorists” during a previous on-air debate.
Midway through the heated exchange, O’Donnell called Hasselbeck “cowardly.”
“What you did was not defend me. … I asked you if you believed what the Republican pundits were saying – you said nothing, and that’s cowardly,” O’Donnell said.
Hasselbeck responded: “Do not call me a coward, because No. 1, I sit here every single day, open my heart and tell people what I believe.”
Yada, yada, yada…
After the show aired, reporters caught up with Hasselbeck at a media event where she downplayed the incident. She even went as far as to say that she didn’t harbor ill will against O’Donnell; that the two remain friends; that they were both adults who could debate and move on… yada, yada, yada.
Seems as though Hasselbeck should have checked with her “pal” Rosie before flapping her lips to the press because according to The New York Post, O’Donnell may not share the same opinion. The paper reported today a O’Donnell staffer was escorted out of the ABC building on Thursday after she was caught drawing moustaches on pictures of Hasselbeck that hang in “The View” studios. According to the paper, ABC confirmed in a statement that “photographs at “The View’s” offices were defaced,” but did not say who was responsible for the vandalism.
Naturally, Wednesday’s very public brouhaha didn’t escape notice by O’Donnell adversary Donald Trump. The two have been exchanging insults for months. Now the real estate mogul is adding his two-cents worth regarding the on-air tiff.
“I’ve always said Rosie is very self-destructive,” Trump told reporters Thursday. “… As far as Elisabeth Hasselbeck, I’ve always said she’s probably the dumbest person on television.”
According to ABC executives, O’Donnell is scheduled to be back on the show Tuesday (she has been on vacation since Wednesday), though whether she actually shows up remains in question.
Personally, I don’t think that the chatfest would suffer much if they both stayed home.