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Breaking News:Whoopi Goldberg hangs head in disgust on The View over Donald Trump’s NABJ interview: ‘I refuse’…See More 👇
Whoopi Goldberg, who famously won’t say Donald Trump’s name from her post on The View, didn’t have to use words to adequately communicate her disgust over the former president’s volatile performance during a Wednesday afternoon interview in front of members of the National Association of Black Journalists.
The 68-year-old Ghost star kicked off Thursday’s show with heavy criticism for Trump’s controversial comments at the NABJ convention — particularly an interview that “went off the rails from the very first question” with ABC News’ Rachel Scott, Goldberg said. The show then played a clip of Trump questioning Vice President Kamala Harris’ racial identity as a Black woman, which prompted Goldberg to lower her head toward The View’s Hot Topics table.
“You know what? I refuse. I refuse, because this is nothing new. This is not new. We knew this is who he was, this is who he’s always been. So, I’m not paying him any mind except when I’m here,” Goldberg said of the interview, which saw Trump refer to Scott as “nasty” and “hostile” within its opening moments. “This is the same old stuff he did with [Barack] Obama. He made people think there was something wrong. Obama, his mom was white, his dad was Black. Now, if the KKK was chasing him, they’d say, ‘There goes a Black man.’ If the KKK was chasing Kamala, they’d say, ‘There goes a Black woman.'”
Panelist Sunny Hostin, who’s a member of the NABJ, stressed to the audience that Harris “is a Black woman,” contrasting Trump’s stated assessment that Harris — who is Indian and Black — only “became a Black person” in her political career.
“In this country, if you are biracial, which you have any drop of Black blood in you, you are considered a Black person, and that’s the one-drop theory,” the 55-year-old said. “I’m a biracial person, I have a Black father and a white mother, and, the KKK is going to find me and round me up with every other Black person. This is my lived experience and it’s her lived experience, and I think to question someone’s racial identity, especially him, the bar has fallen so low.”
Conservative cohost Alyssa Farah Griffin, who previously worked under Trump at the White House before resigning and repeatedly criticizing her ex-boss, called Trump’s NABJ appearance “despicable” and urged Americans to recognize that Trump’s actions say “very loudly” who he is as a person.
“What I was struck by wasn’t just the blatant racism, the lack of understand of what it means to be biracial. I’ve said this for a while, he’s slowing down. He’s never been a super eloquent person. He didn’t seem mentally sharp. He walked into a room of Black journalists and it seemed like he was kind of blurting out loud what he says privately with his advisors,” the 35-year-old said. “He didn’t try to hide or mask the racism. That, to me, is a sign of decline. He was asked if he should take a mental acuity test. I think he should. He does not seem right. He kind of came off like your crazy great uncle you hope doesn’t show up to the family event.”
Goldberg sent the segment to commercial by summarizing Trump’s actions as representative of his political party.
“He did exactly what, often, Republicans bitch about. [They say] ‘You don’t invite me, you don’t want to listen.’ Well, we invited you, and we heard you, and you can’t come back,” she said to the camera.
Trump’s NABJ interview drew widespread criticism, after Trump also repeatedly accused Scott of being late to the event — though, a source on the ground confirmed to Entertainment Weekly that Trump demanded the NABJ not fact-check his answers live, which delayed the start time of the event.
Vice President Harris and her team later condemned Trump’s analysis of her racial identity.
“The hostility Donald Trump showed on stage today is the same hostility he has shown throughout his life, throughout his term in office, and throughout his campaign for president as he seeks to regain power and inflict his harmful Project 2025 agenda on the American people,” Harris for President Communications Director Michael Tyler said in a statement provided to EW. “Trump lobbed personal attacks and insults at Black journalists the same way he did throughout his presidency — while he failed Black families and left the entire country digging out of the ditch he left us in.”