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ABC is currently in the midst of a brouhaha with the FCC over the latter’s attempts to unearth a long-dormant partisan mandate that concerns “bona fide news programs” giving equal airtime for political parties and candidates. But it didn’t take any governmental pressure for The View to welcome Vice President J.D. Vance for its June 16 installment, and on top of all the headlines the interview garnered, it was the most-watched ep to hit the 2026 TV schedule and beyond.
J.D. Vance's Appearance Made Headlines For Days
Though many may have expected the Veep's appearance on The View to be a completely incoherent spectacle of arguments and railroaded talking points, the actual interview wasn't nearly so tumultuous. The hosts and guest smiled way more than general expectations might have allowed, even despite Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar & Co. getting directly political rather than wholly focusing on the new memoir he was there to promote, Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith.
In fact, Vance appeared on Fox News' Gutfeld the next day and told host Greg Gutfeld that it wasn't quite the visceral experience that he was anticipating, while still giving Whoopi a little gruff over her questioning how Donald Trump's administration views minorities and racial equality. As he put it:
Honestly, Greg, I expected them to be absolutely vicious. And they were only a little bit vicious. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. . . . I gotta say, I thought Sunny [Hostin], the woman to my left, was going to call me racist. In reality, it was Whoopi, the woman to my right, that called me racist. Expectations defied.
Of course, while it may have been an easier time than suspected for Vance and The View's six women around the table, the interview also sparked some polarized reactions. It wasn't quite on the level of Jimmy Fallon tousling Trump's hair on The Tonight Show, but many felt that the hosts could have and should have dug their heels in even deeper.
Unsurprisingly, former host Meghan McCain also had a few things to say about Vance's interview, and positivity was not part of the equation.
My biggest takeaway from Vance on The View is honestly how sh--ty and undisciplined the hosts STILL ARE. After all these years they still get basics facts wrong, flub easy questions and can’t get through a segment without yelling at each other.
Can't please everyone all of the time, of course. But regardless of how anyone felt about the interview, the facts are clear that a ton of people tuned in for it.
J.D. Vance's Interview Was The Second Most-Watched Episode In The Past 5 Years
Audiences were not put off by the potential for political muckraking when J.D. Vance joined The View, with Deadline reporting that a whopping 3.3 million people tuned in on June 16. It seems like those numbers tracked for the majority of the episode, as Vance was brought out early on and stayed the course.
This was the most watched episode of the past 20 months or so, falling behind the November 6, 2024 installment that aired the day after the presidential election. Easy to understand wny that was a big crowd, all things considered.
What's more, the V.P. interview made for the second most-watched View episode going all the way back to January 11, 2021. Interestingly enough that episode featured guest Ken Jennings for his first appearance talking about hosting Jeopardy! following the death of Alex Trebek in November 2020.
So what might happen if The View brings both J.D. Vance AND Ken Jennings on for a future episode? The world just can't handle that kind of excitement.
The View airs weekday mornings on ABC.
