‘The View’ Cohosts Rip Into Trump, Despite Rumored Request to Dial Down Negative Coverage

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According to a report from The Daily Beast that went live on Wednesday (May 21) evening, the cohosts of The View and executive producer Brian Teta were pulled into a meeting by ABC and Disney and were encouraged to cool down on their criticisms of Donald Trump and his administration. The site reported that the cohosts regarded the idea as “silly” and pledged to “keep doing their thing.” Indeed, on Thursday’s (May 22) show, they showed no signs of backing down with the first “Hot Topic” discussion.

The first discussion of the day was about Trump’s Oval Office meeting with South Africa’s president in which he brought up a conspiracy theory that white farmers in the country were being killed in mass genocide.

“Between ambushing Zelensky and this, why would world leaders continue to come to the White House?” Whoopi Goldberg asked after reviewing footage of the contentious sit-down.

“This is the problem with getting all your information from Laura Loomer and Elon Musk,” Sara Haines said. “It was a false conspiracy theory.” She went on to share specific data that contradicted Trump’s claims and noted, “Usually, all conspiracy is taking bits of fact and then just choosing your own adventure… So what he did is he took two little seeds and just like, did his own thing with that. He was completely false.”

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Goldberg then jumped in with her own spirited take on the matter, saying, “I’ll just say it like this. I made movies in South Africa. I’ve been in South Africa. I sent [Sunny Hostin‘s] son to South Africa to talk to people that I know who still live there. There’s no white genocide. Okay? There’s not. There’s not a genocide happening. There is crime, as there is all over the world. But it is not about killing off white people.” She went on to get bleeped out as she said, “This is just straight [curse word].”

Alyssa Farah Griffin was also critical of Trump’s take, saying that while he was giving priority to white South African farmers, he was allowing a program for Afghan refugees who assisted American soldiers in the war effort to expire. “We know they’ll be subject to beatings, to jailing, even to killing, and some of those are people who served alongside U.S. forces as translators and interpreters, and I would just implore the president — he was so critical of Joe Biden‘s withdrawal from Afghanistan — stay true to what we owe the Afghans who fought with us.”

Hostin suggested expanding that list, adding, “I would also mention the Venezuelans that Haitians and other refugees that have been here, have been doing the work, been paying taxes, social security, all that.” She also spoke directly to Goldberg’s original question by noting that the South African president was likely trying to shore up a trade deal with Trump and said, “I think he was very prepared for the ambush. I think he was very skilled. I think he was magnificent… and he acted like a leader.”

Goldberg went on to reiterate her frustration over the scene, saying of world leaders visiting the White House with Trump, “You’re right. They’re doing what they feel is the right thing. They’re meeting with the American president. But this is some crazy stuff. Made me crazy. This made me crazy.”

They went on to play a second clip from the meeting in which the South African president joked that he didn’t have a plane to offer Trump, referring to his decision to accept a plane from Qatar that will reportedly be retrofitted to be a new Air Force One and remain in Trump’s use through his presidential library after his term ends.

Behar noted, “The plane is now going to cost hundreds of millions of dollars to debug it, to fight to fix it up and get it ready, and it’s because that is a gift that is really — according to what I understand, the Emoluments Clause precludes taking the gift, it’s unconstitutional — and our tax dollars are now paying for the for those hundreds of millions of dollars. Does that make us complicit in the Emoluments Clause? I do not want to go to jail for this.”

Hostin confirmed that it’s illegal to accept foreign gifts and bribes, and Haines criticized the source, Qatar, as a country that “supports and finances terrorists.”

“I’m surprised he wants it for that reason alone,” Griffin agreed. “I don’t know how he makes it secure from a national security standpoint.”

“It’s a free plane and then it goes to him and his presidential library,” Hostin said.

“But we all know that’s B.S.,” Goldberg interjected. “He’s not going to give it to his presidential library. He’s going to take it, and he’s going to fly, and he’s going to use it. But he’s not supposed to have it.”

As has become increasingly common, Goldberg pulled out her pocket Constitution and noted, “I’ve got the Constitution right here. You’re not supposed to have the plane. People always want us to be respectful and do the things and talk about stuff we talk about. We can do all of that, but when you are blatantly giving the country the middle finger… That is blatant. You’re not supposed to do that. You’re not supposed to take the plane.”

Behar then noted, “People should see the truth now. The fact is that he’s bringing white people in here against the better judgment about all of the non-white people who need it. We see that he violates the Emoluments Clause. He does whatever he wants. He gets this plane. He thinks he’s the king… The founding fathers did exactly that book to prevent exactly what he’s doing.”

In other words, whatever concerns were reportedly shared about The View cohosts’ harsh Trump criticisms might’ve come through in the meeting with their bosses, they still decided to have their say today.

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