Whoopi Goldberg Sounds Off Against People Calling for ‘The View’ to Be Canceled

ABC

Whoopi Goldberg had something to say to those critics who have been calling for The View to be canceled because the cohosts consistently offer critiques of Donald Trump. Perhaps ironically, her message came at the tail end of a discussion in which they were expressing their discontent about someone on the opposite side of the political spectrum.

On Thursday’s (March 13) episode, the first “Hot Topic” of the day was California Governor Gavin Newsom‘s new podcast in which he welcomed “alt-right” MAGA personality Steve Bannon onto the show and had curious reactions to Bannon’s statements, such as “the process to unwind you from being a globalist,” “Trump won the 2020 election,” and calling Senator Elizabeth Warren “Pocahontas,” as Trump did.

Each of the panelists had their takeaways to share in the chat. Sara Haines said he didn’t “hit the right tone” by not pushing back on Bannon’s factually incorrect comment on the election or the racist nickname for Warren. She also guessed that Newsom was “trying to be friends” with his controversial guests like Bannon.

Joy Behar agreed “he should’ve countered” but said that Newsom’s listeners are likely to already know Bannon was incorrect about the 2020 election. And Sunny Hostin, who’d suggested Newsom’s name as a potential leader for the 2028 Democratic ticket, got particularly heated about it, saying, “I’m terribly disappointed. I think you meet energy with energy, and what he did was show his pretty white teeth and his cute face and did nothing other than that, and I think it’s despicable.”

When Alyssa Farah Griffin praised Newsom for taking on a debate with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and championed having “open-minded conversations” on podcasts, Goldberg responded with a rebuke of those who criticize the View team even though they do exactly that.

“We always say that because we have those conversations. People assume that we believe whatever they believe that we believe… People believe that they know everything I think and believe, they don’t. But one of the ways that you learn what people believe is to hear them talk,” Goldberg said. “People always say, ‘You should take The View off television.’ You know why? Because we give you an opportunity. We don’t tell you what to think. We say, ‘This is what I think!’ You know, Alyssa will say, ‘This is what I think.’ Joy says, ‘This is what I think.’ … And when we do that, that is how you have the dialog. It’s not personal. Sometimes somebody will say, ‘Well, that shirt looks a little tight on you, Whoopi.’ But that’s not a bad thing. But it becomes an awful thing when people become personal about you or your family. See, that’s the difference. We don’t do that here. Other people do it to us and would like to think that that’s what we’re doing to them, but we’re not… You can’t get out there calling names. Name-calling is not okay. And Gavin should know better.”

The View, Weekdays, 11 a.m. ET, ABC