Whoopi Goldberg Has Fiery Reaction to VA Redistricting Results

The View
ABC

The cohosts of The View were, like many Americans, split on the issue of Virginia’s successful measure to redistrict the state’s Congressional seats in a way that strongly favors Democrats.

Whoopi Goldberg, in particular, was majorly on the fence about the matter. First, she fired back at those who are claiming that this gerrymandering is unfair to Republicans.

“This is for me, really, like, where is it going to end? Because Texas did this. Then California said, ‘No, no, we’re going to do this now.’ Virginia said, ‘Listen, we’re going to ask our people what they want’ — as did the folks in California — said, ‘You want to do this?’ California people said, ‘Yeah, we don’t like what’s happening.’ So you can’t clutch your pearls and go, ‘Oh my god, I can’t believe you did this.’ This is what happens when you … well, no, I’m not even gonna say it, because I don’t want to get in trouble.”

She then turned the matter over to the other panelists, and Joy Behar was cheerful about the decision: “It’s fun to watch the Democrats find their testicularity,” she said, earning laughs from the cohosts and audience members alike. “Some of the Republicans are turning on Trump. My best friend Marjorie Taylor Greene wrote on X, ‘A once-red state is turning into one of the bluest states because people don’t want to support Republicans.’ Now, it’s kind of heartwarming, isn’t it?”

“I don’t think they don’t want to support Republicans. I think they don’t want to support the MAGA,” Goldberg clarified.

Sunny Hostin then joined in to echo Goldberg’s initial point, saying, “The Republican Party did start this. They started it in Texas, and they didn’t do it by the will of the people. They didn’t have an election. They didn’t put it on the ballot. They did it within the legislature, and Texas stole — well, redistricted — and took five seats. So California, which has the GDP of a small country, basically said, ‘I’ll see your five, and I’m gonna get you five.’ So then the Democrats got five. I thought it should have ended there, but if you look at it, then North Carolina got it involved, and Republicans started little by little, chipping away, taking away the will of the people. And now you’ve got Virginia saying, ‘We’re going to take it to the people, not the legislature. We’re going to take it to the people.’ And the people now have spoken.”

She also cheered for the decision, adding, “Now the Democrats have a 10 to nine advantage in the House, and I’ve got to tell you, when they go low, I think you go to the Earth’s crust. You got to meet the freaking energy.”

Alyssa Farah Griffin, however, had a word of caution for those celebrating the results. “As we speak, we may not remember the government is still in a partial shutdown. This is one of the worst Congresses in modern history in my opinion. The approval ratings speak for themselves. Only 10% of Americans approve of Congress, only 29% of congressional Republicans, only 24% approve of congressional debt. People don’t like what’s happening. They don’t feel like Congress is solving issues for them… Both sides engage in partisan gerrymandering, and it’s ruining our country.”

Sara Haines was also in no mood to celebrate the VA victory, saying, “It’s interesting that on the heels of watching three people resign from Congress for everything from sexual misconduct to bribery and fraud, all these things, I care less about the numbers and more about the quality of people we’re putting there.”

Goldberg then took the mic again, saying, “I’m going to tell you something because you are right in your thought process, but until the Republicans stopped saying, ‘We’re doing this’ — because they were very clear about why they were doing it. ‘We don’t want this group to have this representation.’ Once you do that, they’re fighting words, and there’s nothing you can do. But what you’re saying is correct.”

After Griffin then argued that gerrymandering is to blame for bad candidates being immune to being elected out, Behar joked, “Do you think Trump will invade Virginia now?”

That’s when Hostin argued, “I think we need to look forward, because now you have Governor DeSantis in Florida saying, ‘You know what? We’re going to gerrymander again.’ And so I think what Hakeem Jeffries, the minority speaker, is saying, that was directly, I think, to Governor DeSantis, ‘Florida, you want to do that. Let’s see.'”

Goldberg then contended that the whole process of gerrymandering needs to stop. “There are good people out there. There are people who want to do this, but people don’t want to start to run [for office] and then get removed because you’ve changed the map. Leave the map alone. Just leave the map alone. Let people decide who they want and what they want. You don’t own the government. We own the government. Everybody stop at the redistricting. Let people win on their own merit because cheating doesn’t work. Cheating just makes it worse.”

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