Bill Maher And Elisabeth Hasselbeck Clash On 'The View'

ABC's The View is known for featuring discussions that get more than a little heated, especially with conservative co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck, whose political opinions often clash with the more left-leaning co-hosts and guests. Such was the case when comedian Bill Maher visited The View on Tuesday to promote his new book: Hasselbeck jumped in and confronted Maher about a joke he made earlier this year.

On his HBO show, Maher was talking about CBS correspondent Lara Logan, who had been detained in Egypt. "New rule: now that Hosni Mubarak has released Lara Logan, he must put her intrepid hotness on a plane immediately," he joked. "In exchange, we will send Elisabeth Hasselbeck."

On Tuesday's show, Hasselbeck re-read the joke to Maher and said, "You can't sit here right now and tell me I'm wrong for saying, 'That wasn't that funny.'" Maher, perturbed that the confrontation infringed on his time to promote his book, defended his joke. "We do a comedy show for an audience that's perhaps different than your audience," he said. "You are a public figure. It was not aimed at you personally, but when you are a public figure, you are out there and you're fodder for comedians to make comments on."

Hasselbeck said she wasn't personally offended by the dig at her but was more concerned about the implication it had for women at large. She said she felt the need to press Maher on the issue since he said the absence of women from male-dominated industries, such as college football, is largely the reason why scandals errupt in those places. When Hasselbeck asked Maher whether he would make the same joke again, he replied, "If I had a crystal ball and knew I was coming here and had to spend my whole segment talking about it, no I wouldn't."

The tension carried on from there, with co-hosts Joy Behar and Barbara Walters all doing their part to try to move things along. Watch the video here: