Jenny McCarthy says she was asked to 'act Republican' during her time on 'The View'
Meghan McCain, Abby Huntsman and Ana Navarro may be the current reigning Republicans on The View, but once upon a time Jenny McCarthy was the one expected to take up the GOP side. So claimed McCarthy on Tuesday’s episode of Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.
During the Bravo program’s After Show, a viewer wrote in to ask McCarthy — a former Playmate of the Year turned radio and TV personality — about her take on McCain’s work on The View.
McCarthy, who appeared as a co-host on the ABC show for the 2013-14 season, was quick to praise McCain, who is known for her impassioned defense of Republican causes and intense debates with more liberal members of the panel.
“I love her on The View,” McCarthy said. “You know — what they needed … an opposite point of view. In order to be The View, you need different sides, and when I was on there, it was really hilarious because they initially had me come on because I was the pop culture girl and they wanted to change [the show].
“Barbara {Walters, the show’s creator and original co-host] didn’t know anybody who was pop culture-wise,” she added. “They came to my dressing room and said, ‘Can you just act Republican, so we have another point of view?’ And I said, ‘How do I act Republican?’ So then they figured out how to get a Republican.”
While McCarthy may not identify as a Republican, she does have strong ideas. Though she has insisted that she is not anti-vaccine, her past claims linking vaccines to autism based on her son’s diagnosis prompted protests when her hiring on The View was announced.
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