![Will Elisabeth Hasselbeck leave "The View" because her political opinions don't poll well with the TV show's audience?](http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/image_content_width/hash/47/67/47676d24b9cac50ea8c5b75c8093173a.jpg?itok=IXkJHogl "Will Elisabeth Hasselbeck leave "The View" because her political opinions don't poll well with the TV show's audience?")
Word of another possible departure has come up following the official announcement that Joy Behar is exiting ABC’s “The View.” On March 8, Us Magazine reported that Elisabeth Hasselbeck might not be back to the show.
What is the rumored reason for Hasselbeck’s departure? Political differences. Not the often-seen differences of opinion between Hasselbeck and the other show hosts, but between the conservative Hasselbeck and the TV show’s audience.
"The viewers they polled all said she was too extreme and right wing," an insider reportedly told Us. "People did not watch the show because of Elisabeth. So they told her yesterday her contract would not be renewed."
Is Hasselbeck’s departure a done deal, then? Maybe not. TV Newser offers an official statement from a spokesperson for “The View”:
“Elisabeth Hasselbeck is a valued member of ‘The View’ and has a long term contract.”
TV Newser also notes, however, that it has two two unnamed sources who claim Hasselbeck’s future with “The View” is uncertain.
Hasselbeck has not responded to the rumors at the time of this writing.
The 35-year-old’s departure might just be speculation or rumor that follows news of Behar’s departure. After all, Behar and Hasselbeck often went head-to-head over political difference since Hasselbeck joined the show in 2003.
Their heated arguments were only some of the encounters Hasselbeck has had, including some tense exchanges with Rosie O’Donnell during her tenure as “The View” co-host and moderator following Meredith Viera’s departure.
But Hasselbeck’s departure might also be under consideration as part of a shake-up for “The View.”
Regardless of Hasselbeck’s position, Behar is out – a decision she made after 16 years. The view around “The View” table is changing. So what might “The View” look like without the one-two political punch of Behar and Hasselbeck? Would the audience be interested?
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