As moderator for ABC’s The View, Whoopi Goldberg made it a point of pride to never say former President Donald Trump’s name; preferring to call him “you know who” like he’s Voldemort from Harry Potter. She’s also been one of President Biden’s biggest defenders when it came to criticism about his age and mental acuity. But during Tuesday’s show, Goldberg apparently couldn’t remember which years Trump ran for president and had to be walked through it.
Kicking off the show with Trump’s recent comments about his position on “abortion rights,” Goldberg wanted to make fun of how “it landed with a thud with a ton of conservatives.” She noted that “anti-abortion activists are slamming it as a betrayal to people who voted for him in 2016 and 2020,” before pausing and asking: “What does it–? voted for him in 2016 and 2020? How did that—?”
Co-host Joy Behar had to walk her through the fact that Trump had run and received votes in those years:
BEHAR: Well, they voted for him in both – people who voted for him voted in those elections.
GOLDBERG: Okay. Gotcha.
SUNNY HOSTIN: Real Trumpers.
GOLDBERG: But he lost, right?
BEHAR: Yeah. Yeah. He lost big. Yeah.
HOSTIN: Bigley.
BEHAR: The second time. Bigley.
“I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t wrong here,” Goldberg tried to downplay her confusion and eventually put the focus back on Trump’s abortion comments.
But before giving Behar kudos for helping Goldberg out, be warned that later in the segment she suggested that conservative leaders were competing to see who could cook up policies to hurt women the most:
Number one, first of all, Pence, Lindsey Graham, and Trump are fighting to see who could make women’s lives more miserable. That’s like what they’re really fighting for. How can we really destroy women in this country? That’s it.
“Lindsey Graham will be on his knees flying down to Mar-a-Lago — if he had a spine he could sit upright on the plane but he doesn’t have a spine, so what’s he going to do? I mean, he just goes back and forth trying to get his pension,” she chided.
The transcript is below. Click “expand” to read:
ABC’s The View
April 9, 2024
11:02:14 a.m. Eastern(…)
WHOOPI GOLDBERG: He’s kicking abortion rights back to the states. It’s not landing well — it landed with a thud with a ton of conservatives and his former VP, his minion Lindsey Graham, and anti-abortion activists are slamming it as a betrayal to people who voted for him in 2016 and 2020.
[Pauses] What does it–? voted for him in 2016 and 2020? How did that—?
JOY BEHAR: Well, they voted for him in both – people who voted for him voted in those elections.
GOLDBERG: Okay. Gotcha.
SUNNY HOSTIN: Real Trumpers.
GOLDBERG: But he lost, right?
BEHAR: Yeah. Yeah. He lost big. Yeah.
HOSTIN: Bigley.
BEHAR: The second time. Bigley.
GOLDBERG: I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t wrong here.
(…)
11:06:17 a.m. Eastern
BEHAR: Number one, first of all, Pence, Lindsey Graham, and Trump are fighting to see who could make women’s lives more miserable. That’s like what they’re really fighting for. How can we really destroy women in this country? That’s it.
Lindsey Graham will be on his knees flying down to Mar-a-Lago — if he had a spine he could sit upright on the plane but he doesn’t have a spine, so what’s he going to do? I mean, he just goes back and forth trying to get his pension.
(…)