The Flip-Flopping Sensibilities of Sara Haines, The View’s ‘Independent’ Voter

Nicholas Fondacaro
October 16th, 2026 3:30 PM

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In theory, each cast member of ABC’s The View is supposed to bring a unique perspective and experience to the table to cultivate a wide variety of opinions. We all know that’s a load of bunk given how homogeneous their political views are. The most insidious among them is Sara Haines, the purported “independent” voter who exclusively votes Democratic. And just like any party sycophant, her sensibilities for what to be offended about switch depending on which way the politics were playing out.

This past week alone, a discerning viewer would get whiplash with how Haines flip-floped on her outrage at conspiracy theories and crude jokes, before flip-floping on them a second time. She’s even claimed the show had made her “more conservative” in some respects but gave no examples.

On Monday, Haines vented about weekend accusations that Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico (D) was off the campaign trail because he was checked into a mental health facility. She voiced opposition to the pushing of “conspiracy theory”:

But I think that asking the questions when someone is sitting out on the campaign trail this close to an election, those are fair, but asking the questions is different than making up answers. And just because you - if you by chance have evidence something else happened, come forward, let everyone know, but until that point going with a conspiracy theory is not the option.

 

 

Continuing to setup how things would flip-flop later in the week, let’s look at Haines’ comments from Tuesday, when she took issue with comedian Shane Gillis’ Saturday Night Live joke poking fun at gym whores. In the same way someone says “with no disrespect” before they say something insulting, Haines argued that that type of joking around leads to sexual assault like the alleged Cornell situation:

[W]hen the language like ‘whore’ is passed along, I might have not noticed it before in the past, because it was under the guise of a joke. And as we talk about this Cornell 7, I'm not saying a joke makes an assault, but it makes it much easier to look at it as another human as an object.

 

 

Fast forward 24 hours to Wednesday, when Haines had ZERO problem with alluding to a conspiracy theory that Katie Zacharia, the newly minted and controversial White House Press Secretary, had gotten the position through some less-than moral means.

Here’s an small sampling of the explosive reaction from her co-hosts to seemed to know where she was trying to take the conversation:

ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: I don't know how this gal got through the door. You can find a lot of people who are prepared to do this. It’s much harder than cable news.

SARA HAINES: I can tell you how she got through the door!

[Laughter]

WHOOPI GOLDBERG: Stop it.

HAINES: You can -

GOLDBERG: Stop it. Don't even think about it. Don't even think about it.

 

 

In a best-case scenario, it was a comment about her only getting hired for her looks. In a worst-case scenario, it was a comment designed to invoke the thought of a sexual favor being exchanged. She was likely not commenting on Zacharia’s looks since they made those comments about Karoline Leavitt with no such reaction.

Haines went back to being the joke police on Thursday when she whined about the “shame-lace accusations” against Talarico regarding the “Talafreako” nickname and the joke about him being gay from Vice President J.D. Vance.

“[I]t harkens those years back to school where someone was labeled a ‘freak’ because they were different. They were other. And then it gave people permission socially to treat them almost like a pariah. It like dehumanizes someone,” Haines decried.

 

 

Suggesting someone only got their job because they slept with the boss is a pretty “shame-laced accusation” and conspiracy theory, Sara. 

Haines put a bow on her no-good-very-bad week on Friday by saying, “This show has made me more liberal and more conservative on different issues.” She then explained that she had gotten more liberal on illegal immigration:

One would be I've become more liberal on immigration. Immigration was one of my conservative takes because I looked at it unemotionally; we got to fix a system that's been broken for decades. We have sanctuary cities where the rules apply here and not here. And it didn't make sense to my logical mind. Watching what's happened and how far it can be taken.

Haines gave ZERO examples of issues she’s moved right on. However, there was something suspicious about that part of the episode. 

 

 

There appeared to be a hard cut immediately after Haines’ story about becoming more liberal right into fill-in moderator Sunny Hostin pivoting to guest co-host Raven Symone. You can check it out in the video above.

Their Friday episodes are prerecorded on Thursday, so there’s a possibility that Haines’ story about becoming more conservative on something was intentionally removed. Or perhaps, she struggled so badly to think of something she moved right on and couldn’t that they wanted to save her the embarrassment and axed it.

The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:

ABC’s The View
October 16, 2026
11:05:10 a.m. Eastern

(…)

SARA HAINES: It's funny because I feel like - I love what you [Ana Navarro] said about growing and changing. We do oftentimes get mad at people when they don't make sense to us. This show has made me more liberal and more conservative on different issues.

One would be I've become more liberal on immigration. Immigration was one of my conservative takes because I looked at it unemotionally; we got to fix a system that's been broken for decades. We have sanctuary cities where the rules apply here and not here. And it didn't make sense to my logical mind.

Watching what's happened and how far it can be taken.

SUNNY HOSTIN: With ICE?

HAINES: With ICE and the kind of grabbing people out of their homes. I have become like -- it has forced me to swing almost to the other way completely on that.

[Possible hard cut, show is prerecorded on Thursday]

HOSTIN: But have you changed some of your views?

RAVEN SYMONE: So, I don't know if I changed some of my views but I feel like the Republican Party adopted some of the things that I was hoping for. Hear me OUT!

(…)

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