The View Downplays Somali Welfare Fraud as Just 'Smoke and Mirrors’

Despite the dozens of convictions and all the evidence to send them away, Whoopi Goldberg, moderator for ABC News program The View, claimed the entire story was just “smoke and mirrors.” She added that it was all conducted in an effort by President Trump to “demonize immigrants.” She and co-host Sunny Hostin then teamed up to insist that Trump’s outrage and rhetoric about the massive fraud scheme was just him being “racist.”

After playing an edited soundbite of Trump denouncing the scheme to defraud American taxpayers, Goldberg kicked off the discussion by downplaying the fraud: “Will trying to demonize immigrants till work for him or his base? Are they more concerned about other issues, right now? Is this going to continue? Or is this smoke and mirrors?”

The first to spout off was purported comedian Joy Behar, who claimed the whole thing was distraction from Trump’s bad poll numbers:

It seems like every time his numbers drop or he perceives his popularity is dropping no matter how much tush kissing the cabinet does on him – it's really disgusting to watch them kiss his butt, but anyway – every time that happens, he pulls out a race card. Last time it was the Haitians who were eating the pets. And now it's the Somalis in Minnesota who, by the way, there's only 84,000 Somalis in Minnesota, and 58 percent of them were born in the United States.

 

 

Proving that she’d read anything someone put on a piece of paper for her, Behar seemed to mix up President Biden and Trump. She attributed Biden losing the Somali vote over his support for Israel to Trump. “But one of my spies told me that [Trump] lost support with the Somali Minnesota voters over the Biden administration’s handling of Gaza. So, again, it's personal. Everything’s personal with him,” she whined.

She later walked that claim back after she was slipped another note, of course, she tried to spin it for Democrats too: “I got another note from one of my spies that says Democrats lost support among Somalis last year. Well, this will get their support back, I would think. Right?”

Pretend independent co-host Sara Haines was the only one to admit that the fraud was real, but she too made it about Trump, decrying that he’s making people look at him and not the fraud. “But he's missing a win here. They did uncover it. They’re fixing it, this was a problem but because of how he talks about it, now it becomes it's all the Somalis,” she lamented.

 

 

Choosing to keep the focus on Trump and not the fraud, Hostin and Goldberg teamed up to suggest Trump’s focus and rhetoric surrounding the fraud was what was problematic about the whole situation; calling him “racist” in the process:

HOSTIN: I think we need to call a thing, a thing. The President of the United States is using racist language. He is. He's using discriminatory language. He is targeting an entire group in a discriminatory way.

GOLDBERG: Again.

HOSTIN: Again and again and again. And when do we as Americans say being a racist or using hateful, racist language is unbecoming of the office of the president of the United States? We need to be able to say that. And we need to be able to say it out loud.

As they were nearing the end of the segment, Goldberg argued that, “Even if everything that he is saying is correct, it doesn't change the fact that he is out of control” and “grasping at straws” to distract from the Epstein files.

 

 

She also didn’t seem to understand why Trump was still in office: “So, what are you doing? Why are you still there?!”

The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:

ABC’s The View
December 3, 2025
11:03:06 a.m. Eastern

(…)

WHOOPI GOLDBERG: Will trying to demonize immigrants till work for him or his base? Are they more concerned about other issues, right now? Is this going to continue? Or is this smoke and mirrors?

JOY BEHAR: It seems like every time his numbers drop or he perceives his popularity is dropping no matter how much tush kissing the cabinet does on him – it's really disgusting to watch them kiss his butt, but anyway – every time that happens, he pulls out a race card. Last time it was the Haitians who were eating the pets. And now it's the Somalis in Minnesota who, by the way, there's only 84,000 Somalis in Minnesota, and 58 percent of them were born in the United States.

HOSTIN: And 87 percent of them are naturalized citizens.

BEHAR: But one of my spies told me that he lost support with the Somali Minnesota voters over the Biden administration’s handling of Gaza. So, again, it's personal. Everything’s personal with him.

SARA HAINES: Well, and the problem is how he’s handles it. He had a valid criticism. This is rated as the number one fraud scheme during the pandemic. These were programs that were supposed to feed kids. There have been 59 people convicted. It was over $1 billion. That's a big deal and it's not about the Somalis, it's about those people that were convicted making bad decisions. You don't paint it with that kind of gloss.

But he's missing a win here. They did uncover it. They’re fixing it, this was a problem but because of how he talks about it, now it becomes it's all the Somalis.

(…)

11:04:48 a.m. Eastern

BEHAR: I got another note from one of my spies that says Democrats lost support among Somalis last year. Well, this will get their support back, I would think. Right?

(…)

11:05:33 a.m. Eastern

ANA NAVARRO: A president who likes dog whistles. A president who likes to divide and have a target, and this time it's the Somalis. Before, it was the Haitians. Before, that it was the bad hombres the Mexicans; about the Venezuelans. You know, he wants to paint them all as gang members and members of Tren de Aragua.

GOLDBERG [mockingly]: I don’t know why you keep saying that because he says he's not a racist.

BEHAR: What does that say about people who follow him though?

HOSTIN: I have yet to meet a racist that raises their hand and says, 'yes, I am a racist.'  but I think we need to be able to call-

GOLDBERG: Oh, they do now.

HOSTIN: Some do. Correct. Correct.

GOLDBERG: They're very happy to tell you now.

HOSTIN: I think we need to call a thing, a thing. The President of the United States is using racist language. He is. He's using discriminatory language. He is targeting an entire group in a discriminatory way.

GOLDBERG: Again.

HOSTIN: Again and again and again. And when do we as Americans say being a racist or using hateful, racist language is unbecoming of the office of the president of the United States? We need to be able to say that. And we need to be able to say it out loud.

(…)

11:08:32 a.m. Eastern

GOLDBERG: Even if everything that he is saying is correct, it doesn't change the fact that he is out of control.

BEHAR: Yeah.

GOLDBERG: He is grasping at straws. And Epsteingate is not going away.

BEHAR: The prices are not coming down.

GOLDBERG: Pete Hegseth is not going away. Prices haven't come down. I told you what we pay for eye drops. That hasn't changed. [Into the camera] So, what are you doing? Why are you still there?!

HAINES: He's building that wing, that ballroom.

GOLDBERG: You know, what? You notice you haven't heard anything about that? What's going on with that?

(…)