On Tuesday, the hosts of The View continued their merciless attack on Senator Ted Cruz following his announcement that he will seek the Republican nomination for president in 2016 with Whoopi Goldberg once again lumping the Texas senator in with the birther movement.
The anti-Cruz segment came on the heels of their Monday episode in which guest host Michelle Collins declared herself to be a “Ted Cruz birther” and demanded to “see the birth certificate.”
During Tuesday’s broadcast, the hosts briefly attempted to walk back their smear on Cruz after conservative host Nicolle Wallace explained that he was eligible to run for president given that his mother was born in the United States.
Despite the hosts admitting that Cruz was eligible to run for president, Whoopi Goldberg claimed that when the initial birther movement surrounding President Obama’s citizenship arose, Cruz “never stood up and said, hey, this is a ridiculous argument” and thus was just as guilty as those who falsely questioned his citizenship.
Whoopi continued to lump Cruz in with the birther movement and insisted that “if you're Canadian – because he says -- listen, because my mother was an American, that makes me an American no mother where I'm born. Well that's what Obama kept saying. His mother was an American. What the hell?”
For her part, Nicolle Wallace actually defended Cruz from birther accusations and pointed out that “It wasn't Ted Cruz that demanded to see the birth certificate” but that didn’t stop Goldberg from smearing him even further:
He's a gay people denier. He's a woman, right to choose denier. He denies everything. Listen, I'm sorry and I am going to take pot shots at him. He may not have been at the charge but he didn't stop the charge.
Even though Goldberg attacked Cruz for failing to condemn those who questioned President Obama’s citizenship, she concluded the segment by indirectly accusing him of being a birther again:
Read the statute. It will tell you exactly how this crap works, okay, babe? Ted, I just want to let you know that Canada is a completely different country. I know that you were thinking that it was part of the U.S. -- We're very close. We have a border, but it's not the same as Hawaii which is actually part of the United States.
See relevant transcript below.
ABC’s The View
March 24, 2015
WHOOPI GOLDBERG: Yesterday we were talking about Ted Cruz announcing he's running for president and everything. And we talked about the question of his eligibility. Apparently we need to clear something up.
JOY BEHAR: Before you go on, can I just say Penelope Cruz has a better chance of becoming president. Forget about him.
NICOLLE WALLACE: And she wasn't born here either.
BEHAR: Exactly. And if he can be president, then Celine Dion can be president. She was also born in Canada. I don't get this. And what happened to the birther movement against Obama I'd like to know?
ROSIE PEREZ: Let's slow down here because --The issue for me was if we're going to accuse him and throw around the word birther, I called Nicolle right after the show.
BEHAR: What were you going to Canada, too?
PEREZ: No.
WALLACE: Sadly no.
BEHAR: Yeah, go ahead.
WALLACE: So I said on the show yesterday that I didn't know where he was born.
PEREZ: Yeah, we all did.
WALLACE: He was born in Canada but the rules for eligibility -- let me say too, two wrongs don't make a right on this birtherism and Ted Cruz was not one of the Republicans leading the charge. Donald Trump had a lot more questions about President Obama's birth certificate than Ted Cruz. And Donald Trump--
BEHAR: Well he knew better than to bring it up because he has skeletons in his closet.
WALLACE: Well, it’s not a skeleton. He was born in Canada to an American citizen and you're perfectly eligible to run for president if you're born to a full American citizen. So he's not a naturalized citizen. He's a full-fledged American citizen and was since birth. So he’s completely eligible to run for president. Now I also said yesterday that his eligibility to run for president would be the least of his problems. He’s got political problems because it’s a very crowded Republican field. And I watched his announcement speech, I know you did too.
BEHAR: Yeah I did.
WALLACE: And the greatest thing I will say about it is he did the whole thing, first of all, his family is fantastic. Two beautiful young daughters and his wife is really smart. Some people think she's the brains in the family.
GOLDBERG: I would agree.
WALLACE: But he did the whole thing without a teleprompter which George Bush didn't give speeches without a teleprompter. President Obama didn't. It's just an important political skill.
PEREZ: But he was also in front of a forced audience because it was mandatory that those kids showed up.
WALLACE: Well, it’s school. It’s school. It was the university, it's mandatory to show up for school.
PEREZ: No, but for that specific event. It wasn't a voluntary event.
BEHAR: The bottom line with this guy is he's a climate change denier. We cannot have a president of the United States that's a climate change denier.
GOLDBERG: He's a gay people denier. He's a woman, right to choose denier. He denies everything. Listen, I'm sorry and I am going to take pot shots at him. He may not have been at the charge but he didn't stop the charge.
WALLACE: Fair enough.
GOLDBERG: Because to me, if you're Canadian – because he says -- listen, because my mother was an American, that makes me an American no mother where I'm born. Well that's what Obama kept saying. His mother was an American. What the hell?
WALLACE: It wasn't Ted Cruz that demanded to see the birth certificate. It was Donald Trump.
GOLDBERG: But he never stood up and said, hey, this is a ridiculous argument. Let's get onto the real stuff.
WALLACE: I wish more Republicans had. It is a ridiculous thing.
BEHAR: According to what we read today Donald Trump also is questioning Cruz's birth status also.
WALLACE: He is.
BEHAR: He’s consistent if nothing else.
GOLDBERG: Read the statute. It will tell you exactly how this crap works, okay, babe? Ted, I just want to let you know that Canada is a completely different country. I know that you were thinking that it was part of the U.S. --
WALLACE: It's close though.
GOLDBERG: We're very close. We have a border, but it's not the same as Hawaii which is actually part of the United States.
