Promoting a new movie on Thursday’s CNN Tonight, View co-host Whoopie Goldberg gushed that Pope Francis has made her “reinterested and reinvigorated” in the Catholic Church because she believes that he’s told parishioners they “don’t...need to be obsessed with gay people” and should “quit hurting women’s feeling about having gotten an abortion.”
Later in the interview, she took aim at Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump, Ben Carson, and Carly Fiorina over the Planned Parenthood baby parts scandal for “mak[ing] up stories about seeing a video that isn’t real” and wasn’t officially produced by the abortion provider.
Lemon first asked for her thoughts on the Pope’s visit to the U.S. and speeches to which Goldberg joined the chorus of media types bashing Pope Francis’s two most recent predecessors and bloviating without any support about the Pope’s desire to back gay marriage and abortion:
Listen, you know, this is the first time since probably John the XXIII, that I've been reinterested and reinvigorated, because this guy, you know, he read the book. He gets it. He remembers what this is all about. You know, to Catholics, he’s the direct connection to God. So, if he says, listen, I don't think you need to be obsessed with gay people. I don't think that's what we need to be thinking about. I think we need to be thinking about how do we make our church better? How do we make our church more inclusive? You know, how do we say – you know, he said, you know, quit hurting women's feelings about having gotten an abortion. I don't want women to get abortions but I understand why they do.
Goldberg then resumed her attack on the pro-lifers that are running for president by declaring that: “[N]o one goes into getting an abortion like it's a party. You know what I mean? This is a hard decision for 97 percent of the women in the world to make. You know, so, you shouldn't be beating them up, because they have had to make this terrible decision and it's not your business.”
Without a hint of irony, Goldberg told Lemon that laws are created “to protect everybody” while Fiorina the rest of the GOP field should “get their facts straight” in criticizing Planned Parenthood.
Asserting that they shouldn’t “make up stories about seeing a video that isn’t real” but merely “stock footage” not produced by Planned Parenthood, Goldberg mocked Fiorina for “standing there crying” on the debate stage and blasting Hillary Clinton and President Obama for not watching the horrifying videos.
Ben Carson was not spared the ire of Goldberg in this interview as she threw up her arms in disgust in wondering:
I don't know when this ability for people to just say, dumb. Can you beat me...I don't know when this all came out where people say dumb sh*t and dumb racist s*t. You know, it used to be you thought before you said some stuff like that. You were more thoughtful, and suddenly now everybody feels like it's okay. I guess when Obama came in, folks thought all the gloves were off.
The relevant portions of the transcript from CNN Tonight on September 24 can be found below.
CNN Tonight
September 24, 2015
10:44 p.m. EasternDON LEMON: So, I have to ask you because the Pope is in town.
WHOOPI GOLDBERG: Yes.
LEMON: You have said that you have a great relationship with God.
GOLDBERG: Yes.
LEMON: What do you think of the Pope's speeches and what he's doing and saying?
GOLDBERG: Listen, you know, this is the first time since probably John the XXIII, that I've been reinterested and reinvigorated, because this guy, you know, he read the book. He gets it. He remembers what this is all about. You know, to Catholics, he’s the direct connection to God. So, if he says, listen, I don't think you need to be obsessed with gay people. I don't think that's what we need to be thinking about. I think we need to be thinking about how do we make our church better? How do we make our church more inclusive? You know, how do we say – you know, he said, you know, quit hurting women's feelings about having gotten an abortion. I don't want women to get abortions but I understand why they do.
LEMON: But I heard you mention that about abortion. You said, there is nothing in the Bible about abortion, but someone would challenge you and say, what about “thou shall not kill.”
GOLDBERG: Well, if that's the tactic we are going to take, then we have to be pissed at every war, we have to be pissed at all the things we do. Now, you know, no one goes into getting an abortion like it's a party. You know what I mean? This is a hard decision for 97 percent of the women in the world to make. You know, so, you shouldn't be beating them up, because they have had to make this terrible decision and it's not your business. It's not your business that they had to make the decision and because, you know, I believe everybody is entitled to their religious beliefs. The lady down in –
LEMON: Kentucky.
GOLDBERG: – Kentucky, she’s absolutely entitled to her belief, but if you are a federal worker and you took this job, you don't get to say I'm not going to do it because of my religious beliefs because, you know, in the '60s, late '50s, they said, German in this place also. You know what, I'm not going to give you the right to vote. I'm not going to sign you up because I don't think you are supposed to. So, we make these laws to protect everybody.
LEMON: Even today, you know, because Carly Fiorina now is, she is almost at the top. Donald Trump, and then Ben Carson, but she was in the top. She was in South Carolina visiting a pregnancy center and she criticized Planned Parenthood. She’s criticized Planned Parenthood a lot. What do you think?
GOLDBERG: Well, I wish, she and Trump and all the other Republicans would get their facts straight for – you know, you want a fight on this. Get your facts straight. Don't make up stories about seeing a video that isn't real. Okay, it's not a real video.
LEMON: You called Donald Trump out on it. Well, you talked about the video, the real video which was stock footage in the video.
GOLDBERG: It was stock footage and who knows what it wasn't part of? It wasn't part of a Planned Parenthood film.
LEMON: That's the video that Carly Fiorina said she saw.
GOLDBERG: Let's start with that. Yes, where she was standing there crying.
LEMON: But you've criticized Donald Trump saying, you need to get your facts straight.
GOLDBERG: Get your facts straight. Yeah, you know what? More women use Planned Parenthood for their health care than anything else. You know, abortion actually is down in this country from what it was.
LEMON: Very small.
GOLDBERG: It's very, you know, but it's also, women are not having as many abortions. You know, there is a lot of things happening and to pretend that Planned Parenthood is still this specter is terrible and again, I understand you don't think it's a good thing. Nowhere in the law does it say you have to have one. You have the right to choose to have one. I like that, but don't take my right if I need one because of your religious beliefs. I can't see that being right.
LEMON: What do you think of all of these, the people who are not traditional politicians like Ben Carson, right, who said things about Muslims, like –
GOLDBERG: You know what? I don't know when this ability for people to just say, dumb. Can you beat me?
LEMON: Yes.
GOLDBERG: I don't know when this all came out where people say dumb shit and dumb racist shit. You know, it used to be you thought before you said some stuff like that. You were more thoughtful, and suddenly now everybody feels like it's okay. I guess when Obama came in, folks thought all the gloves were off. You know what, here’s what's PC. It's only PC if you can't do it, okay? If I don't want you making jokes about my people, you tell me I'm too PC, but you have had the right to make those jokes all the time. You can make them. There are consequences now. There weren't consequences before.
LEMON: So, then why are these people so popular, like Trump, Carson? Why are they so popular now, and they're not traditional politicians?
GOLDBERG: Why was Sarah Palin? Why was Michele Bachmann popular?
LEMON: Right.
GOLDBERG: Who knows? It's like Zero Coke or no Zero Coke.
LEMON: Yes.
GOLDBERG: You know, some of it sticks, some of it doesn't. There is only way about.
