An attempt to honor the late President George H.W. Bush erupted into a shouting match on the popular ABC TV show "The View" on Monday.
During the show's Hot Topics segment, co-host Joy Behar brought President Trump's name into the conversation about Bush, whose civility has been a major theme in tributes this week.
"Can we focus on the president, please?" co-host Meghan McCain interjected, referring to Bush, who died Friday at age 94. "I don't want to talk about Trump, we're honoring a great president."
Behar retorted: "Excuse me a second please. I want to talk about ..."
McCain cut her off again.
DailyMail.com reported co-host Whoopi Goldberg was forced to cut to a commercial break.
Show insiders told the British news site the exchange between Behar and McCain continued off air, with Behar fuming: "If this s--t doesn't stop I'm quitting this damn show. I can't take this much more."
The clash reaches a peak at about 5:30 in this video:
DailyMail.com said "the conversation went south when Behar threw Trump's name into the mix while commending Bush's support for environmental issues."
"I want to say one thing about him that was not picked up really, because as a candidate he said, 'Those who think we're powerless to do anything about the greenhouse effect, are forgetting about the White House effect,' then he signed into law the Clean Air Act amendment of 1990, one of the most sweeping environmental statutes ever," Behar said.
"This president," the longtime Trump critic said, "that we have now is trying to unravel everything that he did and Obama did, and if I ever become a one-issue voter it will be about pollution and the greenhouse effect."
McCain interrupted: "Can we focus on the president, please. I don't want to talk about Trump, we're honoring a great president."
Behar refused: "Excuse me a second, please. I want to talk about ..."
But McCain took over the conversation again: "We're honoring a great president who passed, and I'm not interested in your one-issue voting."
Behar responded: "I don't care what you're interested in. I'm talking!"
McCain replied, "I don't care what you're interested in either."
DailyMail.com reported that after the live Monday show, "neither woman spoke to each other and producers and network executives met with them individually in their dressing rooms."
"This isn't the last you've seen of these two coming to blows. You can trust and believe that," the source said.