Just over a year ago, in April 2024, ABC News’s The View announced that they had “stopped asking” President Trump to be on the show and said they had banned election deniers. But what if the moderator of the show was an election denier? During Thursday’s opening segment, Whoopi Goldberg suggested that Trump had rigged the 2024 presidential election.
Bitter about Trump posting on social media bragging about investors predicting he would win the election, and trying to gaslight about the Biden economy, Goldberg scolded Trump and warned him to stop lest someone poke around and discover insider knowledge of his impending victory:
I want to remind people that he took credit for Biden’s economy – BOOMING economy, claiming investors knew he was going to win. I think he should stop saying that because you’re going to make somebody investigate how investigators would know you were going to win. I'm just putting that out there. You know.
What triggered Goldberg’s election denialism was a January 29, 2024 Truth Social from Trump where he bombastically declared in all caps: “THIS IS THE TRUMP STOCK MARKET BECAUSE MY POLL AGAINST BIDEN ARE SO GOOD THAT INVESTORS ARE PROJECTING THAT I WILL WIN…”
Goldberg asked the rest of the cast how long the American people were going to put up with Trump as president since “the economy was great when he came in.” Joy Behar agreed by writing off average Americans upset at inflation by arguing that all the “every important person in the economy said” Bidenomics were great.
Further in the segment, Goldberg suggested that Trump “came in with a good [economy]” from Obama during his first term; sentiment shared by an irritated Sunny Hostin, who asserted that Trump had twice “inherited” good economies and tried to falsely give credit to Biden for the post-COVID bounce back:
HOSTIN: I think that Whoopi’s point is very important. Trump inherited Obama's economy. So, let's never forget that! And then, he then inherited Biden's economy. And I know we're going to have the former president come and talk about his legacy, but I want to mention that his economic legacy historic wage gains, investment in job growth, marred by inflation, of course, but numbers don't lie. His economy was strong, Trump's tariffs killed it. The nation's GDP growth under Biden was impressive; rose at a solid 3.1 percent rate at the end of his term.
BEHAR: Unemployment very low.
HOSTIN: I was going to say, he was the president to oversee monthly job gains for the entirety of his presidency.
“What good has [Trump] done to the economy?! What kind of businessman is that?! A bad one!” Hostin shouted.
Seemingly denying the fact that Trump won the popular vote in 2024, Goldberg suggested that Trump’s economic policies were revenge on the American people. “I think he's angry at the country because I think he feels that Americans didn't support him, he feels our allies didn't support him, and now he's getting even,” she
“[T]here's no other reason to do what he’s doing. It doesn’t make sense to me,” Goldberg proclaimed.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
ABC’s The View
May 1, 2025
11:03:36 a.m. Eastern(…)
WHOOPI GOLDBERG: I want to remind people that he took credit for Biden’s economy – BOOMING economy, claiming investors knew he was going to win. I think he should stop saying that because you’re going to make somebody investigate how investigators would know you were going to win. I'm just putting that out there. You know.
Now, how long are people going to put up with this because, you know, the economy was great when he came in?
SUNNY HOSTIN: Yeah.
SARA HAINES: Yeah.
JOY BEHAR: That's what every important person in the economy said, yeah.
GOLDBERG: Everybody was saying, yes. So, I'm not sure. And I don't know why suddenly now he said we're going to have billions and billions and billions. You're going to get billions and now he's talking about no dolls on the shelf. I don't know what to do.
(…)
11:06:13 a.m. Eastern
BEHAR: Alyssa, wasn't that because he had people around who controlled him?
GOLDBERG: And he came in with a good – He came in from Obama's economy.
[Crosstalk]
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: He had sound economic policy and he had advisers who talked to him about the consequences about across-the-board tariffs. If you want to target some things in China, fine, but work with our European allies, work with our pacific allies. That's actually how you out China and strengthen America.
BEHAR: Why doesn't he do that?
[Applause]
HOSTIN: I think that Whoopi’s point is very important. Trump inherited Obama's economy. So, let's never forget that! And then, he then inherited Biden's economy. And I know we're going to have the former president come and talk about his legacy, but I want to mention that his economic legacy historic wage gains, investment in job growth, marred by inflation, of course, but numbers don't lie. His economy was strong, Trump's tariffs killed it. The nation's GDP growth under Biden was impressive; rose at a solid 3.1 percent rate at the end of his term.
BEHAR: Unemployment very low.
HOSTIN: I was going to say, he was the president to oversee monthly job gains for the entirety of his presidency. And the U.S. – And get this, Donald Trump is supposed to be a builder, right? He's the best builder ever. Well, the U.S. added 16.6 million jobs during Biden's presidency, more than any during any four-year term of any previous president. That is what Donald Trump got.
What we got now, especially in his second quarter, stock market demolished, 401(K)s demolished, Department of Education demolished, DOGE demolishing things, federal government jobs gone. What good has he done to the economy?! What kind of businessman is that?! A bad one!
[Applause]
BEHAR: The way you describe it. Sounds like he wants -- he's like a nihilist, some body who wants to destroy everything.
GOLDBERG: I think he's angry at the country because I think he feels that Americans didn't support him, he feels our allies didn't support him and now he's getting even. That's how -- because there's no other reason to do what he’s doing. It doesn’t make sense to me.
(…)
