ABC's The View, a show featuring a woman who believes the United States government may have been involved in the September 11th, 2001 attacks, will now be overseen by the network's news division, according to Variety. ABC News President James Goldston announced, "Moving ‘The View’ to our non-fiction programming group now allows it to fully draw on the vast resources of ABC News and our team in New York, where the show is based right next door."
The non-fiction department? Co-host Rosie O'Donnell in 2007 said of 9/11: "I do believe it is the first time in history that fire has ever melted steel. I do believe that it defies physics for the World Trade Center Tower Seven, building seven, which collapsed in on itself, it is impossible for a building to fall the way it fell without explosives being involved."
On August 9, 2014, she reaffirmed her truther beliefs, tweeting to NewsBusters: "I still do not believe the official story.”
On the October 7, 2014 program, the host used air quotes while talking about the "Saudi hijackers." On the same show, she blamed America for creating ISIS.
But now, O'Donnell and ABC News will be linked and considered part of the "non-fiction" department.
The Variety story explained:
One of his [Goldston's] central goals, according to insiders, is to make “The View” more appealing to younger viewers. The show has fallen 10 percent in the last year among female viewers between the ages 18 to 49, but it’s up 1 percent in total viewers.
...
Within ABC there’s been conflict about which side has been calling the shots on “The View” this season, with some sources insisting that the execs from the news side have driven decisions such as the hiring of former “Rachel Maddow Show” producer Bill Wolff as the new exec producer. However, those on the news side say they weren’t officially in charge of the show until now.
This ABC News program previously employed anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist Jenny McCarthy.
