Joy Behar announces in a pre-recorded broadcast of The View that she will be off the show until further notice. Behar said her daughter pleaded with her to stay home during the DTMNBN (Disease That Must Not Be Named by a decree from Facebook.) She will not be on the show this coming week and then she will reevaluate the situation and she will not be back until she feels that it is safe.
So much for the good news. The bad news is the rest of the cast will be on. Not that I ever watch the show, nor will I as long as there are reruns of Gilligan’s Island or Married With Children. Behar is now 77 years old and she is in the group most vulnerable to the disease. The DTMNBN does not seem to affect children much. But older Americans with other health problems, especially respiratory issues, fall victim to the disease.
The View tapes in New York, which declared a state of emergency earlier today in response to the spread of the coronavirus. The virus has infected 95 people in the city, but Mayor Bill de Blasio said he expects that number to skyrocket to 1,000 cases by next week.
Co-hosts Whoopi Goldberg, Meghan McCain, and Sunny Hostin are expected to stay on the show next week, according to Variety.
Behar has been a reliably vocal antagonist of President Donald Trump, using her pulpit on the long-running daytime talk show to engage in her highly agitated brand of mockery.
Earlier today, Behar called on President Trump to resign over the coronavirus, making the perplexing claim that his Oval Office address on Wednesday shows that the president himself is in poor health.
“He does not inspire confidence. I could hear him breathing. Could you?” she said on Thursday’s episode. “Is there a microphone in his nostrils, do you think? It speaks of somebody who’s not in great health, and he’s been so exposed to a few people now who have had the coronavirus.”
That’s a whole lot of stupid that just can’t be fixed.