The hosts of The View have never been shy about turning television into a political battlefield. With the 2026 midterms approaching, that habit has become even harder to miss.
Now, after Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro reportedly approved additional cuts across ABC, the show’s response has followed the same familiar script: blame Trump, blame his supporters, blame the audience, and avoid discussing why the network is struggling in the first place.
That is the part I keep coming back to.
The firings become a political argument
According to the segment, Sunny Hostin framed the layoffs as an attack on the media and connected them directly to Donald Trump. She argued that the cuts would affect everyone from ABC employees to late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, presenting the network as a victim of political pressure.
Whoopi Goldberg followed with a similar message. She claimed that ABC was never politically motivated and blamed the network’s problems on Trump supporters and what she described as attacks against legacy media.
The argument is familiar, but it is also incredibly convenient. Every business failure becomes political persecution. Every ratings problem becomes misinformation. Every criticism of the network becomes proof that the critics are dangerous.
At some point, viewers are allowed to ask whether the problem is actually the audience.
ABC’s business problem is bigger than Trump
The reported layoffs appear to be part of a broader business decision, not simply a political punishment. ABC has spent years dealing with declining trust, changing viewing habits, and audiences that no longer want every entertainment program turned into a political lecture.
That includes The View, which has built much of its identity around political confrontation. The show can still generate viral clips, but viral clips do not automatically translate into loyalty. And if reports of empty audience sections are accurate, even the promise of a free taping is not enough to bring people through the doors.
That should be a warning.
When a show repeatedly tells viewers that they are stupid, hateful, or morally corrupt for disagreeing, it should not be shocked when those viewers stop watching.
The audience sees the pattern
The larger problem is that The View seems unable to separate criticism of the network from criticism of one political party. ABC’s programming has become increasingly associated with ideological commentary, whether the subject is politics, entertainment, or the morning news.
That does not mean every employee or program shares the same agenda. It does mean the network has developed a reputation, and reputations are not repaired by yelling at the people who noticed.
Blaming Trump may energize the studio audience, but it does not solve ABC’s ratings problems. It does not rebuild trust. It does not explain why viewers have moved elsewhere.
Final take
The ABC layoffs may continue into 2027, and The View will probably keep treating them as evidence of a political conspiracy. But the simpler explanation is sitting right in front of them: audiences are tired of being lectured by people who refuse to acknowledge why they left.
If ABC wants to recover, it needs to win viewers back. That starts with listening to them.
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