What’s the most embarrassing way for someone to defend a politician who berated their staff on camera and had a history of angry outbursts? Well, during Thursday’s The View, ABC News moderator Whoopi Goldberg stepped up to defend California Democrat Katie Porter amid her heated gubernatorial race by admitting that she too yells at her staff. She even made an excuse for why Porter was in the right for allegedly pure scolding hot mashed potatoes on her then-husband.
Meanwhile, co-host Sunny Hostin blamed President Trump for Porter’s bad behavior.
After playing soundbites from the CNN debate where Porter was called out repeatedly for her bad behavior, Goldberg swooped in to be her knight: “Maybe, you know, maybe she does yell at people. I yell at people. You yell at people. You yell at people. And sometimes it’s not nice.”
Co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin offered some pushback given she used to work on Capitol Hill and dealt with many different lawmakers: “I think how somebody treats staff under them says so much about their character. And we should note we saw the video where she berated a staffer in a way I've never in any job in politics been talked to.”
Whoopi Goldberg defends Katie Porter snapping and yelling at her staff by saying she does it too: "Maybe she does yell at people. I yell at people. You yell at people." pic.twitter.com/RQXaWbGJRf
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) May 7, 2026
Co-host Joy Behar wrote off Porter’s angry outbursts at staff as just her being “high spirited.” Goldberg seemed to suggest that her husband deserved to be allegedly battered with scalding hot potatoes:
BEHAR: I know. Look, Katie, she's high spirited. Maybe she had PMS.I don't know what her problem was but the fact remains that she threw hot mashed potatoes at her husband's head apparently. I read that.
FARAH GRIFFIN: Allegedly.
BEHAR: So, she has anger issues, which I -
GOLDBERG: Maybe she has bad taste in men.
Whoopi defends Porter battering her former husband with scaling hot mashed potatoes:
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) May 7, 2026
JOY BEHAR: Look, Katie, she's high spirited. Maybe she had PMS.I don't know what her problem was but the fact remains that she threw hot mashed potatoes at her husband's head apparently. I read… pic.twitter.com/kkmwSUYjyS
“You get caught in a moment and, you know, everybody's got a camera. So, I'm sorry. I have yelled at people who worked for me. I have yelled at people,” Goldberg later doubled down on her defense of Porter’s yelling. “I'm very careful when I yell at people now.”
Goldberg went on to explain that she’s careful about yelling at people now, not because it’s wrong, but because they would purportedly bait it out of her:
What you don't know is oftentimes people are, you know, messing with you. I used to get it all the time and I used to get really angry at people because they'd come up and go, 'so what are you going to do when your girl loses because Trump is up?'
I used to get -- I'd get right back in people's faces and I realized that's what you want. You want me to do that so you learn to do it. I'm not mad at anybody would steps in poo. I'm not. Now, I don't know what she did to her husband. I don't know anything about the potatoes or any of that.
Whoopi defends Porter battering her former husband with scaling hot mashed potatoes:
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) May 7, 2026
JOY BEHAR: Look, Katie, she's high spirited. Maybe she had PMS.I don't know what her problem was but the fact remains that she threw hot mashed potatoes at her husband's head apparently. I read… pic.twitter.com/kkmwSUYjyS
Meanwhile, co-host Sunny Hostin blamed Trump, his administration, and the Republican Party for Porter’s actions:
We know that there is a double standard. And I have got to tell you, the bar is so very low when you look at J.D. Vance, the way he behaves, you look at Pete Hegseth, you look at Donald Trump. It trickles down from the top. We have seen the worst -- the worst behavior in the Republican Party.
Sunny Hostin blames Porter's terrible temperament on Trump and his administration, saying "It trickles down from the top":
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) May 7, 2026
SUNNY HOSTIN: We know that there is a double standard. And I have got to tell you, the bar is so very low when you look at J.D. Vance, the way he behaves,… pic.twitter.com/YIhulHFP39
As they were approaching the commercial break, Goldberg all but endorsed Porter, suggesting she was “the right person” to run California and that she had “a lot of faith in her.”
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
ABC’s The View
May 7, 2026
11:16:22 a.m. Eastern(…)
WHOOPI GOLDBERG: I like -- I like the -- I like the fact that she said, wait a minute, me? Let's talk about y'all. Because there’s like 45 of y'all and one of me. And maybe she -- maybe, you know, maybe she does yell at people. I yell at people. You yell at people. You yell at people. And sometimes it’s not nice.
JOY BEHAR: I only yell at my husband.
GOLDBERG: But he's a person, though.
BEHAR: Yeah.
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: There's no question that women are held to a different standard in the public sphere, likability, all these issues we talk about in politics. But I don't think she's the best spokesperson for this. I think how somebody treats staff under them says so much about their character. And we should note we saw the video where she berated a staffer in a way I've never in any job in politics been talked to.
(…)
11:17:23 a.m. Eastern
BEHAR: But you know what, Hillary Clinton was called unlikable, nasty, and abrasive. Michelle Obama was subject to endless sexist and racist attacks. Kamala Harris - remember ‘oh, I don't like her laugh.’
FARAH GRIFFIN: But they’ve never been on camera berating people. They all treat their staff with respect.
BEHAR: I know. Look, Katie, she's high spirited. Maybe she had PMS.I don't know what her problem was but the fact remains that she threw hot mashed potatoes at her husband's head apparently. I read that.
FARAH GRIFFIN: Allegedly.
BEHAR: So, she has anger issues, which I -
GOLDBERG: Maybe she has bad taste in men.
BEHAR: Or, I mean, potatoes.
(…)
11:19:33 a.m. Eastern
SUNNY HOSTIN: We know that there is a double standard. And I have got to tell you, the bar is so very low when you look at J.D. Vance, the way he behaves, you look at Pete Hegseth, you look at Donald Trump. It trickles down from the top. We have seen the worst -- the worst behavior in the Republican Party.
I don't think and I watched a lot of that debate and there was terrible bickering, terrible cross-talking, those men were disrespectful and I think she rose above the fray and I give her credit for it and I thought that it was smart politically to point out what was happening.
(…)
11:20:06 a.m. Eastern
GOLDBERG: Also I have to say, I - you know - You get caught in a moment and, you know, everybody's got a camera. So, I'm sorry. I have yelled at people who worked for me. I have yelled at people.
(...)
I'm very careful when I yell at people now.
(...)
What you don't know is oftentimes people are, you know, messing with you. I used to get it all the time and I used to get really angry at people because they'd come up and go, 'so what are you going to do when your girl loses because Trump is up?'
I used to get -- I'd get right back in people's faces and I realized that's what you want. You want me to do that so you learn to do it. I'm not mad at anybody would steps in poo. I'm not. Now, I don't know what she did to her husband. I don't know anything about the potatoes or any of that.
(...)
All I know is, as a human being, I'm subject to the same things that she's subject to. I'm subject to screwing up and messing up and being not the person people want me to be.
But if I'm the right person to run the -- to run that state and I know what I'm doing, I want you to say, 'hey, listen, I want you to be better but I want you to run the state.' I have a lot of faith in her. I don't know if I have so much faith in some of the other folks.
(...)
