Elisabeth Hasselbeck rips liberal narrative that it's OK for Rosie O'Donnell to admit 'disturbing' crush on former 'View' co-host

Elisabeth Hasselbeck, a former co-host on "The View," blasted fellow former co-host Rosie O'Donnell's recent admission that O'Donnell nursed a crush on her former co-worker.

O'Donnell made the revelation in Variety chief Ramin Setoodeh's forthcoming book, "Ladies Who Punch: The Explosive Inside Story of 'The View.'"

What are the details?

O'Donnell told Setoodeh for his book that she once had "a little bit of a crush" on Hasselbeck when the two worked together on ABC's "The View."

O'Donnell added that she believed "there were underlying lesbian undertones on both parts," pointing to her time working with Hasselbeck on the long-running show. She added that it was because of Hasselbeck's years of playing softball that she believed her co-host might be "a little bit gay."

"I think this is something that will hurt her if you write it," O'Donnell said in the book. "She was the MVP of a Division 1 softball team for two years that won the finals. There are not many, in my life, girls with such athletic talent on sports teams that are traditionally male that aren't at least a little bit gay."

On Tuesday's episode of "Fox & Friends," Hasselbeck discussed O'Donnell's old crush on her. She was clearly not impressed with O'Donnell's remarks — or her claims — and pointed out that O'Donnell apparently had a "get out of jail free" card because she is a Hollywood lesbian.

"The truth is, what she said, if you took her words and replaced 'Rosie' for 'Ronald,' there would be an objectification of women in the workplace," Hasselbeck said. "So that is disturbing and it's wrong. Whether you're a man or whether you're a woman, and you're objectifying women in the workplace, it's wrong."

Hasselbeck also pointed to O'Donnell's manipulation of a damaging stereotype.

"Casting a stereotype on female athletes ... that all female athletes are 'a little bit gay,' [is] an unfair stereotype and it seems selfish in a way, and I think that it's untrue," she said, adding that she was deeply disturbed by O'Donnell's remarks and immediately went into prayer over them.

"I'll be very honest," she said. "I read it and I immediately started praying. Because I'm like, 'How am I going to handle this?' In my old self, this would be another split-screen moment. But now I really feel like by God's grace, I just started praying — and I pray now the Holy Spirit gives me the words to articulate this — but I think it can be addressed with both truth and grace."

Hasselbeck said that she tried reaching out to O'Donnell without success.