Lisa Ling Unleashes Chaos on The View with Criticism of Biden's Hot Mic Moment

It's been a while since the women of The View engaged in five-way cross-talk, but fans were finally treated to such chaos on Tuesday morning, when guest co-host Lisa Ling insisted that President Biden "should apologize to the American people" for calling Fox News' Peter Doocy a "stupid son of a bitch" on a hot mic. It was impossible to follow the discussion as the ladies yelled over each other, but one thing quickly became clear: Lisa Ling is exactly what The View needs after three weeks of dead air.

Ling wasted absolutely no time before unleashing chaos on The View's airwaves Tuesday morning. After Whoopi recapped the hot mic moment and Biden's over-the-phone apology to Doocy, she asked her co-hosts whether the moment is "politics as usual" or a lone moment of frustration on Biden's part. "I hope it's not politics as usual," said Ling, first to chime in. "The former president set the bar low, right? And part of the reasons why Joe Biden was elected, even though he has a history of being a loose canon, is he was thought to restore civility to the office. And so, it's not like he just dismissed it as a dumb question; he name-called. As a mom to young kids, these are the people who should be setting an example for our kids. And it's like, yet more examples of men behaving badly, and mothers eventually having to clean it up."

While Sunny Hostin agreed that Biden's remark was "beneath the dignity of the presidency," she praised him for calling Doocy to apologize, which she said Trump never would have done. "It's true, but I think he should apologize to everyone," replied Ling. "Not just to Peter Doocy."

Ling's comment went largely ignored, but when she repeated that Biden "should apologize to the American people," it unleashed a firestorm at the table. "No, I don't think he should apologize to the American people!" replied Whoopi, as Joy Behar and Sunny Hostin began to list the many insults Trump hurled at journalists during his term.

BIDEN INSULTS FOX NEWS REPORTER ON HOT MIC: After the president didn't take kindly to Fox News' Peter Doocy's line of questioning and later called him to "clear the air," the co-hosts and guest co-host @lisaling react. https://t.co/hN1STKHWaw pic.twitter.com/4UfT6C1xle

— The View (@TheView) January 25, 2022

But Ling refused to back down, saying that Biden "should acknowledge that he was a poor example" for kids. "No! I'm sorry, but he should acknowledge he's human," replied Whoopi, who seemed dangerously close to calling Ling a "stupid son of a bitch" herself. "Because that happens. Sometimes when people ask you endless stupid questions from one particular place, and sometimes you just lose it for a second. The difference is, he said, 'Okay, let me call him and apologize.' Because that happens! That, for me, is the representation of what a human being as president should be."

Tension only increased as the co-hosts continued to lay out "the difference between Biden and Trump" for Ling, who insisted "we can't keep comparing him to Trump." Before long, Hostin, Behar, and Ling were all speaking over each other, followed by interjections from Whoopi and Sara Haines (who came around to Ling's point over the course of the segment). By the end of the segment, everyone was talking, leaving Whoopi with no choice but to send The View to commercial, saying, "We're gonna be right back with our bad behavior and all."

Fans of Ling's contrarian commentary are in luck: the former co-host will remain on the panel all week. Ling's four-day stint is the longest of any guest co-host throughout the season — could that mean she's in the running for The View's fifth seat? Stay tuned!

Claire Spellberg Lustig is the Senior Editor at Primetimer and a scholar of The View. Follow her on Twitter at @c_spellberg.