Joy Behar Video Interview On Donald Trump, Sarah Palin

The landscape of American daytime television was forever altered in 1997 when The View premiered on ABC. Comedian Joy Behar quickly won praise — and scorn — for her hilariously barbed comments at the show’s roundtable. “The success of The View is the same as news in a certain way because it’s happening in the moment because we’re live, most of the time, and everybody’s waiting to see what the next big thing is going to be, including the people who are sitting there,” Behar told Uinterview exclusively. “We don’t even know what we’re going to say.”

Born and raised in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, Behar started out as a high school teacher in Lindenhurst, N.Y. She began her career as a standup comic in the early 80s, eventually earning appearances on Good Morning America. In 1987, the Lifetime network gave Behar her own show Way Off Broadway, which lasted only a year.

But her role as a panelist on The View earned Behar, 66, her biggest following — especially around her political commentaries during the 2008 election. At one point she called Republican Vice President nominee Sarah Palin “dumb” and referred to her running-mate John McCain as the “Methuselah of Politics.” “I heard that afterward, Cindy McCain was at a luncheon, and she said we had picked their bones clean,” Behar told Uinterview. “Come on! You are running for the President of the United States. If you can’t stand up to Joy Behar, how are you going to stand up to Ahmadinejad? Or Vladimir Putin?”

Q: I’ve noticed your humor on The View can go right to the edge but never over the line. How do you tell the difference between funny and tasteless?

A: Today, I said something that I thought was over the edge. I called Sarah Palin dumb. Then, I corrected it because I don’t know that she’s really dumb, so I corrected it in the moment, and said she was politically not very astute because she made a joke about how old Joe Biden is when she is with Grandfather Time, the Methuselah of politics. He is the oldest person who has ever run for president. So she’s making a joke about Joe Biden when she’s running with an old guy. First of all it’s a bad joke, and she’s just politically not astute to realize she’s got the older guy with her… Yes, I go over the edge.

Q: What do you think is the funniest thing that’s happened in this year’s campaign?

A:  Oh, Karen. There were so many things that were funny on the campaign trail. Today, they showed a picture of Sarah Palin in Arizona, outdoors, prepping for the debate on Thursday. She’s outside in Arizona. I guess they picked that spot because you can see Mexico from Arizona. I mean, come on! You can’t write it. Even Tina Fey didn’t write that material last time she was on Saturday Night Live. All she did was say the exact thing that Sarah Palin said and it was funny. It’s like George Bush. Sometimes in my act, my stand-up act if I’m in the mood, I’ll bring out my Bushisms, the things that he has said. The low voter turn out is an indication of fewer people going to the polls; You can’t write it! He actually said that in one of his speeches. He said one time, I’m happy to shake the hand of a brave soldier who had his hand cut off by Saddam Hussein. Could I write that? No.

Q: Because your humor so frequently touches on politics do you ever worry about offending people? – Karen, New York City

A: Karen, I like you, you are asking me good questions, Karen. I never worry about offending people who disagree with me politically. Too bad. Apparently, I offended John and Cindy McCain when they were on the show because I asked him why he approved a message saying that Barack Obama said that you should teach sex to kindergartners. ‘You know those are not true. You know they are lies. Why would you say that you approved those messages?’ I heard that afterward, Cindy McCain was at a luncheon, and she said we had picked their bones clean. Come on! You are running for the President of the United States. If you can’t stand up to Joy Behar, how are you going to stand up to Ahmadinejad? Or Vladimir Putin?

Q: I have always thought The View was successful because it imitates what women really do when they’re sitting around at home together. What do you think the secret to The View’s success is? – Katie, Washington D.C.

A: I’m very glad that Katie Couric is asking questions, and you’re doing a great job! The success of The View is the same as news in a certain way because it’s happening in the moment because we’re live, most of the time, and everybody’s waiting to see what the next big thing is going to be, including the people who are sitting there. We don’t even know what we’re going to say. We’re not prepared really 100%. I mean I watch the news all the time so I have certain things in my mind that I wanna get to, but then it comes out crazy or politically incorrect. You just don’t know what’s going to happen. And then add to that the fact that you have people that are basically disagreeing with each other and you’re talking about two topics that nobody ever says you should talk about at a dinner party: politics and religion and those are the two things we love to talk about. So I think the success of the show has to do with being in the moment. In fact, not to get too tedious on this topic, I even like sports now for that reason. I got hooked on the Olympics this summer, mainly single Olympics [sports] though. I don’t like teams, I’m not crazy about teams. I hate football. Penetration in the end-zone is the most exciting part of football as far as I’m concerned. But I enjoy the gymnastics. I love that, to watch that little Nastia. Good name for her when she’s not winning. And I enjoy the fact that she could fall, or she might not fall, if she’s gonna hold herself up, her body is so erect that she’s so brilliant and I like that. It’s the same with The View. We don’t know if we’re gonna fall off the ledge.

Q: You’ve been substituting a lot for Larry King. How is doing that show different from doing The View? -Katie, Washington D.C.

A: When I’m sitting in for Larry King I’m more neutral than I am on The View. The Larry King job requires that I ask the Republicans and the Democrats or people who are pro-choice or not pro-choice questions and try and get to the truth of where they’re coming from. That is different than on The View because on The View it is my job to express what I think and it is skewed and it is prejudicial, I presume, and it's subjective. So that’s a completely different thing. When I’m a guest on Larry King, I’m back on The View because it’s me.

Q: What’s your favorite joke that you can tell on TV? What’s your favorite joke that you can’t tell on TV? – Micah, Boston

A: The only joke that I ever remember is: A guy goes up to Boston, gets into a taxi and he says to the driver, and only the people in Boston are gonna get this, Do you know where I can get scrod? And the driver says I’ve been in this business 25 years and I’ve never heard it asked for in the pluperfect subjunctive. That’s one joke. This is another one that I remember. A young, beautiful girl gets into an elevator with Donald Trump and she says to him, ‘I’m gonna give you a blow job all the way up to the 25th floor. And Donald Trump says to her, ‘Yeah but what’s in it for me?’