Whoopi Goldberg was forced to play referee during a fiery moment on The View on Monday (November 18). Tensions flared when hosts Sunny Hostin and Alyssa Farah Griffin discussed the motives of President-elect Donald Trump’s voters and whether they were driven by “racism and misogyny” more than everyday issues like jobs and inflation, leading to a snippy spat and Goldberg having to step in.
In the clip obtained by Mediaite, it all began with Goldberg playing a clip from Bill Maher’s show from Friday, in which he ripped “white progressives” in the Democratic Party who “see their election loss as a result of racism and sexism,” arguing Trump voters “just want prices to go down and good jobs and the police when you call them.”
Hostin had other thoughts, “I know that as a country, it’s very difficult for people to believe that racism and misogyny they’re just alive and well,” she argued. “I think that we don’t want to think that about ourselves, our neighbors, our friends. But my lived experience tells me that it does still exist, even if your lived experience doesn’t tell you that it exists and, you know, the facts support that.”
Behind the round table, a graphic displayed voting preference, Democrat or Republican, by race. Hostin added, “If you look, there’s a clear racial divide in who voted for Trump as opposed to who voted for Kamala Harris. It’s very clear. It’s not only clear by race, but it’s also clear by education, and so the notion somehow that that is not true…”
Then, a second graphic displayed voter preference by education, to which Hostin continued, “Those who attend a college voted for her at a higher degree than those that didn’t. Let me just finish, and so I’ve said that before, and there was so much backlash because I think it’s an uncomfortable, inconvenient truth about this country.”
Griffin, who was one of Trump’s White House Communications Directors during his 2016 term, dismissed the theory and stood by Maher’s version, “His whole point is they didn’t vote for him because of racism and misogyny. They voted for him because they felt like… I think the biggest common denominator is people want a good life and ability to pay for their family.”
“Black people are one of the poorest demographics in this country, but they voted for Kamala Harris,” Hostin retorted.
Griffin hit back, “There was a split and more of them voted for Donald Trump than had historically. I think there’s such a desire… If you think the vast majority of this country voted because of racism and misogyny, you’re missing it.” Talking over Hostin, she continued, “Most of my family… a lot of my family does not have college degrees…”
“I said the vast majority. The stats are the stats,” Hostin pushed back. Griffin replied pointing to the graphic, “They didn’t write, ‘I’m white I voted for Donald Trump because of racism.’ What stat are you talking about?”
Hostin said: “You can’t dissect the two.” To which Griffin insisted, “Yes, you can!”
Goldberg cut in ending the heated back-and-forth, “Hold on. Hold on. Everybody just take a breath. Take a breath!” The audience nervously chuckled as she pleaded with a funny facial expression (below), “Take a beat.” From there, the ABC morning show cut to commercials.
This isn’t the first time Hostin and Griffin have not seen eye to eye over the current political landscape. In October, the former called Joe Biden’s presidency “one of the most successful administrations in decades,” to which Griffin hit back, “Successful is a relative term.” Goldberg called for a commercial break.
Right after Trump’s decisive victory on November 7, the two also got snippy with each other with Hostin cutting off her co-host and saying “misogyny” was why he won. “No, it’s on the border!” Griffin shouted. The mood lightened when Joy Behar’s phone accidentally went off.
Elsewhere in Monday’s episode, Hostin also had some harsh words about the announcement by Morning Joe‘s Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski that they met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago last week. “The bottom line,” said Hostin, “Is that America needs a free press that is willing to speak truth to power right now more than ever. I think we have to be very clear on it when we think about the president-elect and cover the president elect and I don’t think you need to sit down for 90 minutes at Mar-a-Lago and kiss his ring to be able to speak truth and be able to cover a story.”
The View, weekdays, 11 a.m. ET, ABC