Elisabeth Hasselbeck On Rush Limbaugh: ‘I’m Not Going To Defend The Entire Republican Party’

The Rush Limbaugh birth control scandal of 2012 rages on, and The View panel took a moment to discuss the fallout, including the twelve advertisers who have pulled funding from the show since the backlash from his remarks about Sandra Fluke began. They also talked about Rush’s defenders, including sitcom star Patricia Heaton, who tweeted some gems at Fluke including “If your parents have to pay for your birth control, maybe they should have a say who you sleep with.” Shockingly, the reaction to these tweets was overwhelmingly negative, and Heaton issued an apology, writing “Mea Culpa Sandra…so sorry.”

The panel was uniformly disapproving of her remarks, but their reactions to the tweets themselves varied. Sherri Shepherd, who is apparently friends with Heaton, believed that the tweets were supposed to be just jokes and Heaton apologized when she realized they were being taken seriously. Elisabeth Hasselbeck seemed exhausted, crying “I’m not going to defend the entire Republican party; they have to defend themselves.” And Joy Behar, who I thought was going to be majorly pissed, insisted “Rush Limbaugh’s the culprit, not Patricia Heaton,” as Heaton’s few tweets had nothing on Rush’s several hours of insults. I’m surprised that the panel was so quick to accept Sherri’s defense of the tweets as humorous, since they were clearly intended to be jokes — but incredibly mean-spirited and cruel jokes, not light commentary. You can see the clip here via ABC:

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.

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