With a fifth batch of classified documents being found in President Biden’s Delaware residence by the FBI, with some dating back to his time as a U.S. senator, ABC’s Whoopi Goldberg was exceptionally desperate in trying to protect the President from himself. She kicked off Monday’s edition of The View by asserting that Biden had declassified all the documents at his house, something not even the White House has claimed, and wanted everyone to calm down.
“Presidents and vice presidents can declassify these. Not with their brains,” she declared, mocking former President Trump, despite her making the same argument on Biden’s behalf. “You have to go -- there is something that you go through before it's declassified.”
Without evidence of Biden’s supposed declassification of the documents in question, Goldberg argued that former President Obama gave Biden the authority to declassify. She also whined about people getting bent out of shape about Biden possessing classified documents when he wasn’t allowed to:
But this order came – it was expanded right after that George Bush put it into place because George Bush made it so presidents could declassify – Obama stretched it to vice presidents.
So, given – I wish they would say all that while they're explaining what's going on because if you say, you know, “a classified document,” everybody goes, “Oh my God! How dare he keep that?!”
“And if these guys can declassify, presidents and vice presidents can declassify, are we chasing our tail with some of this?” she asked the rest of the panel.
Seemingly trying to play nice, self-described conservative Alyssa Farah Griffin said Goldberg made “a very good point,” but took issue with the hypocrisy of the argument. “I think it has to be true for Trump and for Biden,” she said, noting that Trump argued that he could just think about a document being declassified when “there's no evidence” it ever was.
Again, despite the lack of evidence, Goldberg insisted that Biden went through the process to declassify the documents but was called out by Farah Griffin and Sara Haines, who pointed out that not even Biden was putting that up as a defense:
GOLDBERG: Well, he said he did it with his head. He didn't go through the process. He said he did it with his mind.
HAINES: But is Biden even saying he did it?
FARAH GRIFFIN: I don’t think Biden is saying that yet.
Farah Griffin went on to argue that Biden’s “cooperation” with the Department of Justice “doesn't negate the fact he had these wrongly in the first place.” Goldberg snapped at her, saying, “Well we don't know he had them wrongly.” “We don’t know. We don’t. This is the crap –” she bemoaned, claiming she couldn’t think of the word she wanted to use.
As the outro music was playing them to a commercial break, Goldberg was clearly frustrated as she doubled down on her insistence that the documents in Biden’s home were declassified by somebody, even suggesting former President Obama should swoop in and save his former vice President:
I'm going to say this again. I think that it really will depend on what's in those boxes. Because if, in fact, presidents have the ability to declassify things, then, you know, Obama says, “Yeah. No. We dealt with this. We declassified.”
“The problem for me is I want to us to, like, wait and get all the information and know what we're talking about,” she demanded for Biden’s scandal, something she refuses to afford to Republicans.
Whoopi Goldberg’s fact-free defense of President Biden’s mishandling of classified documents was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from Humana and Neutrogena. Their contact information is linked.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
ABC’s The View
January 23, 2023
11:03:41 a.m. Eastern(…)
WHOOPI GOLDBERG: So, let me hip you to this because I could not figure out what was going on. So, there are three versions of classified documents. There are confidential documents; that's something that could be expected to damage national security if disclosed. Then there is top secret which is information that could be expected to cause exceptionally grave damage, and then there's secret information which is expected to cause serious damage to national security if disclosed.
SUNNY HOSTIN: Those are the levels
GOLDBERG: Those are the levels.
Presidents and vice presidents can declassify these. Not with their brains. You have to go -- there is something that you go through before it's declassified.
But this order came -- it was expanded right after that George Bush put it into place because George Bush made it so presidents could declassify -- Obama stretched it to vice presidents.
So, given – I wish they would say all that while they're explaining what's going on because if you say, you know, “a classified document,” everybody goes, “Oh my God! How dare he keep that?!” And if these guys can declassify, presidents and vice presidents can declassify, are we chasing our tail with some of this?
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: That's a very good point, but I think it has to be true for Trump and for Biden. So, for President Biden to be able to declassify something, there has to be evidence he did, in fact, declassify it, which is the thing Trump is trying to argue. “I declassified it.” Well, there's no evidence.
GOLDBERG: Well, he said he did it with his head. He didn't go through the process. He said he did it with his mind.
SARA HAINES: But is Biden even saying he did it?
FARAH GRIFFIN: I don’t think Biden is saying that yet.
And I think – What I’m frustrated by is how kind of brazen and dismissive President Biden has been of this. Because he said it went from, you know, “everyone can be irresponsible, but I have no regret, there's no there there,” to “but oh, it was locked up next to my corvette.”
I mean, this is, like you said, it's a very serious matter. One top secret document means a grave risk to national security. And it's a bad fact pattern for him. I said it last week, I think we're going to find more documents. At some point, I think he needs to say, “There may be more. I open up any residences I have been in, you know, to be searched.”
But cooperation doesn't negate the fact he had these wrongly in the first place.
GOLDBERG: Well we don't know he had them wrongly. Let’s –
FARAH GRIFFIN: Well, it's --
GOLDBERG: We don’t know. We don’t. This is the crap – the
HOSTIN: Stuff.
GOLDBERG: I'm trying to find the word. What's the word? This is the thing about this.
HOSTIN: Well, he's been in public service for a very long time.
GOLDBERG: Methuselah, child.
HOSTIN: Yes. A very long time.
And I was troubled when I saw, oh you have stuff from when you were a senator too? Because, I mean, he was senator for a long time.
But what I am struggling with is not necessarily the levels of classification. I'm not necessarily struggling with the fact that I do think he's been a little bit unapologetic, a little bit perhaps cavalier in his response because he realizes that Trump was flushing stuff down the toilet and we're talking about 300 versus maybe 15. And intent is really important so, I don't really think you can compare at all the criminal liability between the two.
But I do have a problem with the process. Why is it that the process is either not ironclad or they don't know it or they don't understand it? We've both worked for the government [gesturing to Farah Griffin]. I could never take something out of a grand jury's secret area and take it home without either getting fired or getting someone killed, and I know you have had the same experience.
(…)
11:09:22 a.m. Eastern
GOLDBERG [with outro music playing]: I'm going to say this again. I think that it really will depend on what's in those boxes. Because if, in fact, presidents have the ability to declassify things, then, you know, Obama says, “Yeah. No. We dealt with this. We declassified.” The problem for me is I want to us to, like, wait and get all the information and know what we're talking about.
HOSTIN: And who's in the room with this was declassified stuff and who said it was okay? And you know Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.
GOLDBERG: Well, the president said.
HOSTIN: No one said anything about it being declassified.
GOLDBERG: No. This is me saying that's what I think. This is just me saying -- Joe didn't say it. Whoopi said it. We'll be right back.
