“The View” has been in talks for months with a fire-and-fury conservative podcast host who isn’t shy about calling out the radical left — and is Meghan McCain’s top choice to replace her, insiders said.
Producers and insiders have said the show is hunting for a unicorn who can appeal to conservative women, but also be palatable to the show’s bread-and-butter liberals.
Liz Wheeler, 32, previously worked as a host for the conservative One America News Network has been in talks with the show since September.
“They said they were impressed with my video podcast ‘The Liz Wheeler Show’ and my voice,” Wheeler said. “This is encouraging to see The View, with their enormous audience and influence over demographics of key voters, consider more objective voices.”
She added, “Mass Formation Psychosis is driving so many others on other TV channels to parrot party talking points and silence the half of the country whose views I represent.”
Wheeler has been through multiple rounds of interviews with layers of View management, including Executive Producer Brian Teta.
“Their dream host is Condoleezza Rice,” said one insider, adding that Wheeler had been grilled about her views on Trump, paid family leave, abortion and the 2020 election.
If Wheeler did get the job, it would push the conservative seat on the show considerably rightward. Unlike McCain, Wheeler takes a mostly favorable view of Trump and over the years has preferred unyielding positions on red-meat issues on her show and social media.
“The communists at Black Lives Matter don’t like when I point out that they’re communists,” she said in one July tweet. She has blasted Anthony Fauci as “one of the most dangerous liars our nation has ever known.”
But Wheeler faces at least one big obstacle — she is unvaccinated. That issue allegedly sank Lisa Booth, another contender for the seat.
“if someone is not vaccinated, they would not be under consideration as that’s against our corporate policy,” a View insider said, suggesting it would be a dealbreaker for Wheeler as well.
Shortly before she departed, McCain offered a list of her preferred candidates to Teta and other top show leaders.
In addition to Wheeler in the top spot, other names McCain offered were Allie Beth Stuckey, a host for BlazeTV; Lauren Chen, a conservative commentator; and Kelsey Harkness, a senior policy analyst at the Independent Women’s Forum.
Wheeler is the only one of the four contacted by the show, the women confirmed.
McCain declined to comment.
“I appreciate Meghan recommending me, but frankly based on the way she was treated by her co-hosts, the show seems like a pretty toxic environment! If I want to be ganged up on by a crowd of angry liberals, I suppose I’ll just have to stick to Twitter for now,” Chen said.
Since McCain’s acrimonious departure in August, The View has struggled to find a permanent host to fill the seat, instead relying on a rotating cast of characters as guest hosts. These have included Rice, Carly Fiorina, Eboni K. Williams, Cameran Eubanks, Gretchen Carlson and Tara Setmayer.
“Our plans are on track as we continue to look for the right person to join our panel of smart, dynamic women. We will be welcoming guest co-hosts for return appearances as well as some new names in the coming weeks once we are back in studio,” a View spokesperson said.
