Vice President Kamala Harris’ office was frustrated with ABC’s “The View” after the program pulled two of its co-hosts off the air over false COVID-19 positive tests, according to a new report.
CNN’s Oliver Darcy reported on Wednesday that the vice president’s office required the hosts of the show to take a PCR test within one day of the interview. One individual said a representative for the show indicated the tests were negative.
“Hosts on ‘The View’ are regularly tested for Covid-19 at least twice each week, people familiar with the matter told CNN. But to satisfy the requirement put in place by Harris’ office, each of ‘The View’ hosts underwent an expedited PCR test in the afternoon following Thursday’s show, one of the people said,” Darcy noted
Harris did not learn of the news until co-hosts Sunny Hostin and Ana Navarro were removed from the set, as Darcy reported.
According to the CNN reporter, “That night, a representative for ‘The View’ gave the ‘all clear’ to Harris’ office, suggesting that the show had satisfied the requirements to proceed with the taping, one of the people familiar with the matter said.”
A person familiar with the issue told the outlet “The View” has not been forthcoming with Harris’ office, leaving her staff “deeply concerned” about the incident.
Brian Teta, the executive producer of the show, addressed the matter on Monday.
“It was just an unbelievable set of circumstances and we found out moments before we came back on the air. In that moment, all I could think of was that we had to keep the hosts safe and we had to keep the vice president safe,” Teta said.
He continued, “She could not walk out, no matter what, and that led to some really awkward television that I’d like to have back if I could. I really want to acknowledge and apologize to Sunny and Ana because in the midst of all this chaos, they were put in this position where they had this information put out on television and, then to make it even worse, it turned out not to be true.”
Watch his comments below:
WATCH: #TheView's executive producer Brian Teta discusses the "awkward television" that ensued on the show Friday when co-hosts Sunny Hostin and Ana Navarro were rushed off the set after their Covid tests were false positives. pic.twitter.com/Cy9mcq66Lo
— Mediaite (@Mediaite) September 27, 2021
Navarro and Hostin are both vaccinated. An insider told the New York Post, “They were pissed because everyone’s been waiting for this big interview for two weeks now, and then it was derailed because of a false positive.”
Another insider explained, “It was not OK. They made the decision to reveal their COVID-19 results in the heat of the moment when they should’ve gone to commercial break.”
The source continued, “They could’ve stopped and thought about how to handle it, as opposed to being crazy on the air and running around like chickens with their heads cut off.”