Today, exactly one month after this controversy started, View co-host Joy Behar finally offered a public apology for her comments about Mike Pence. The segment featuring the apology lasts about a minute but most of that is a rehash of Pence’s comments last night on Hannity. Behar’s actual apology lasts all of 10 seconds. “So, I think Vice President Pence is right,” Behar said. She added, “I was raised to respect everyone’s religious faith and I fell short of that. I sincerely apologize for what I said.”

And…scene!

It was February 13th when Behar suggested Pence was mentally ill because of his devout Christian faith.

Hostin declared that Pence is a “hated figure” in Indiana, claiming she knows firsthand because she attended law school in the state.

“He’s not very popular at all,” she said. “I think when you have a Mike Pence who now sort of puts this religious veneer on things and calls people ‘values voters,’ I think we’re in a dangerous situation.”

Hostin said she is a “faithful” Catholic but doesn’t want her vice president “speaking in tongues.”

Joy Behar then said: “It’s one thing to talk to Jesus. It’s another thing when Jesus talks to you.”

Behar said hearing voices is a “mental illness” before Sherri Shepard offered a limited defense of Pence.

Behar’s belated apology came in direct response to comments Pence made last night on Sean Hannity’s show. Pence said he had received a personal apology from Behar by phone but had encouraged her to make the apology public as well.

It’s not clear when Behar actually apologized to Pence but why not point that out on the show? As it is, we only learned it happened because someone confronted Disney CEO Bob Iger at a shareholder’s meeting last week.

So why didn’t Behar just make this simple apology in the first place instead of that awkward non-apology segment that went on for about five minutes? Her initial reluctance only kept the story going for several more weeks. Behar probably didn’t want to be seen backing down to any member of the Trump administration but after a month she realized this was the only way to finally put it to rest. Frankly, I think she’s hating every second of this, which is why it’s so very succinct.

This isn’t the first time Behar has gone overboard when attacking her ideological enemies on the show, but this incident generated thousands of calls to ABC and was not a one-day story like the others. This is going to follow her around for a while. If I had to guess, I would say she’s already on double-secret probation at ABC. The next time she causes a huge stink for the View may be her last. Then again, ESPN (also owned by Disney) is still employing Jemele Hill, so maybe not.