The View Returns to Business as Usual Amid Whoopi's Suspension

After two full days of controversy, The View attempted to move forward on Wednesday morning with only a brief mention of Whoopi Goldberg's suspension. Last night, ABC News president Kim Goodwin announced that Whoopi has been suspended from the show for two weeks for her "wrong and hurtful comments" about the Holocaust, which the longtime moderator said was "not about race." Whoopi apologized for her remarks on Tuesday's show, but Goodwin says she hopes The View host uses the time off to further "reflect and learn about the impact of her comments."

While Goodwin's statement was shared widely on Twitter Tuesday night, The View's account notably didn't retweet the post from ABC News PR, and fill-in moderator Joy Behar didn't have much to add about the controversy on Wednesday morning. "You all saw the news: Whoopi will be back here in two weeks," she said at the top of today's broadcast. "Okay."

With that, Behar moved on to the first hot topic of the day: Supreme Court justice Neil Gorsuch's scheduled speech at a Federalist Society event this weekend. "You should know that the media is barred from the event," she said. "But my question to you ladies is, should a Supreme Court justice be involved in such a partisan group of people? Is that kosher?"

All four women at the table, including guest co-host Tara Setmayer, a former GOP communications director, agreed that justices shouldn't be participating in events with such a clear political leaning. "I don't think they should, especially at a time right now, when the Court is perceived as political, more than it ever has been," said Sara Haines, as Sunny Hostin said Gorsuch's speech has "the appearance of impropriety."

"There are a lot of parts of this that are problematic," added Setmayer, noting that as a nonprofit organization, the Federalist Society is "not supposed to engage in overt political activity," and yet the group offered Trump lists of conservative judges to appoint to the federal bench. "It's problematic. The Federalist Society is very influential in conservative legal circles. They put forth Gorsuch as a potential nominee, and they got their wish, same thing with the others."

GORSUCH’S SPEAKING EVENT SIGNAL PARTISANSHIP? With Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch scheduled to speak to a conservative legal group where media will be barred from, #TheView panel questions if a justice should be involved with such a partisan group. https://t.co/JJ74V3sKH0 pic.twitter.com/WeGJF1p9hZ

— The View (@TheView) February 2, 2022

A few minutes later, the discussion turned to abortion, which Hostin once again said she doesn't support due to her religious beliefs (Setmayer also said she is "pro-life," which isn't surprising given her former affiliation with the GOP). "People know my Catholic faith leads me to be pro-life and against abortion," she said. "Rape is a horrible thing. I prosecuted sex crimes for the majority of my career, but I have met people who were born after a rape — do you just abort the child because you were raped?"

The ladies then shifted away from politics as they discussed Tom Brady's retirement from the NFL and the pros and cons of being raised in a strict household. Later, the co-hosts chatted with Mark Cuban, who has launched an online pharmacy with the goal of slashing prescription drug prices, and Project Runway's Christian Siriano.

There was no mention of Whoopi for the rest of the show, but the tone of Joy's remarks at the top of the hour seem to back up a report from The Daily Beast that claims the co-hosts are "furious" at ABC News execs for suspending Whoopi. Will tensions boil over, or will they simmer under the surface for the next two weeks? Stay tuned!

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