Sara Haines was candid about the emotional toll of covering headlines on The view.
She admitted that the constant stream of bad news left her overwhelmed and without a safe outlet.
The 48-year-old co-host broke down in tears while speaking with series producer Brian Teta on the Behind the table podcast, reflecting on a week of difficult hot topics.
The two discussed stories ranging from the fatal shooting of Minnesota nurse Alex Pretti by an immigration agent to Donald Trump’s unusual phone call with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro following an assassination attempt on his family.
“We are going through dark times,” Teta exclaimed, prompting Haines to share how consuming so much distressing news is affecting her personally.
“It’s our job to be read and composed, so the amount of consumption is so great as what’s happening in the world – so your world is happening,” she explained.
“The weight of that brings you to your knees at a level that says: the whole world is on fire, your world is on fire, why get out of bed?”
Haines paused mid-conversation, visibly moved, before lowering his head to his hand.
“With this job, you don’t have the luxury of just saying, ‘I really need to check it out,'” Haines said.
“This job? It’s the headlines, it’s the stories, it’s what’s happening, so I get paid to make sure I do all those things. You don’t really have a safe space.”
She added that even outside of work, conversations with her husband and friends often return to the same troubling news.
“There is nowhere to go,” she lamented.
Haines shared that her three children with husband Max Shifrin provide the foundation she needs.
“That’s why I’m so grateful for my children, because their worlds are so innocent and so pure, and I try to put my phone aside when I’m with them,” she said.
“They’re my favorite people anyway. But the world hasn’t tainted them yet, you know?”
