What was meant to be a heartwarming tribute to President George H. W. Bush on The View Monday ended in an ugly shouting match between Meghan McCain and Joy Behar after the discussion at the table turned political.

Moderator Whoopi Goldberg was forced to cut to commercial break after viewers saw the two hosts go at it during a heated exchange - which later escalated off air, a show insider told DailyMail.com.

The episode kicked off with a Hot Topics segment intended to honor the late 41st president, who died on Friday, with the co-hosts taking turns to speak on his legacy.

But just a few minutes in, 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,' she said.

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Moderator Whoopi Goldberg was forced to cut to commercial break during another on-air spat between Joy Behar and Meghan McCain which then escalated off air, an insider told DailyMail.com

After an abrupt cut to commercial, Behar's mic was turned off but viewers saw her slamming her cue cards on the table and turning to sound off on McCain (pictured)

'This president 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 -' she said before being interrupted.

'Can we focus on the president, please. I don't want to talk about Trump, we're honoring a great president,' McCain interjected.

Behar shot back: 'Excuse me a second, please. I want to talk about - ' before McCain cut her off again saying: 'We're honoring a great president who passed and I'm not interested in your one-issue voting.'

Behar fired back: 'I don't care what you're interested in. I'm talking!'

McCain countered: 'Well I don't care what you're interested in either, Joy!' before Whoopi quickly called for a commercial break.

Behar was then seen slamming her cue cards on the table and turning to sound off on McCain just as producers cut to break. Producers muted Behar's microphone so that her expletives would not be heard on air.

But the source told DailyMail.com that Behar threw her hands in the air, yelled 'My God!' and 'Get this b***h under control.'

'If this s**t doesn't stop I'm quitting this damn show. I can't take this much more,' Behar allegedly fumed.

Producers ran to the stage in an attempt to deescalate the situation, but Behar continued to rant, the source said.

'I've tolerated a lot of s**t on this show but I'm at my wits' end with this entitled b***h. Enough already! Enough already! I'm not playing nice any longer,' Behar shouted, despite the studio audience being able to hear it all.

McCain looked displeased when Behar began talking about Trump's plans to 'unravel' Bush's and Obama's efforts to tackle environmental issues

Monday's episode kicked off with a segment intended to honor the late 41st president with the co-hosts taking turns to speak on his legacy. Bush died on Friday, eight months after the death of his wife Barbara

McCain, who producers on the show have allegedly nicknamed 'The Ice Princess' and 'Elsa' from the film Frozen, due to her cold demeanor to staffers on the show, turned red following the blow-up her.

'I don't know why she's so upset,' McCain reportedly said. 'I just wanted her to focus on President Bush and not bring Trump into this for once.'

While hair and makeup people attempted to groom both of the hosts, producers tried to calm Behar down before returning from the commercial break.

'Everyone was frantic. The last thing they wanted was for Joy to walk off the show. She's done that before. Remember the Bill O'Reilly situation? She appeared just as disgusted as she did that day and they only had two minutes to contain this explosion on set and get everyone positioned to return for the next live segment. It was utter chaos on set,' the source said.

When McCain returned to The View on October 6 following an extended hiatus after the death of her father, the late Senator John McCain, everyone on the show handled her very delicately because they were told by network executives that she was 'very fragile' and 'still in deep grief' seven weeks after her father's funeral.

'Producers have been fearful that things were becoming combustible again with Behar and McCain after a few tense exchanges on air, but were hoping the two could make it through until the December hiatus later this month so that everyone could have a few weeks to relax. As you see, that didn't happen,' the source explained.

Following 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.

This is not McCain's first spat with Behar and as previously reported by DailyMail.com on multiple occasions, McCain has feuded with her other co-hosts Sunny Hostin, new Friday co-host Ana Navarro and former co-host Sara Haines.

She previously had a tense on-camera blow-up with Whoopi Goldberg as well. She's also had major drama with several high-ranking producers and ABC executives, according to insiders.

'As toxic as she may be and all the hell she raises behind the scenes, the truth is The View's ratings are up and ABC is turning a blind eye to Meghan's awful behavior because of it. And unless the ratings drop or Meghan actually quits, she's not going anywhere anytime soon,' the source concluded.