During an interview with failed Democratic candidate for president and governor of Texas, Beto O’Rourke (who didn’t hold an elected office) about the crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border, The View’s Whoopi Goldberg demanded that Amnesty International along with foreign countries violate American sovereignty and intervene in the situation. She wanted them to implement what “work[ed] for the world,” presumably that meant open borders.
For the length of the almost eight-and-a-half-minute (8:27) interview, it was a slow-pitch softball fest as they repeatedly teed O’Rourke up to attack Republicans like Texas Governor Greg Abbott and push President Biden from the left on immigration.
As moderator, Goldberg set the tone from the get-go with her introducing him as the “guy we really hoped was going to become governor of Texas.”
Goldberg’s insane demand was the bookend question. And she was very clear that she wanted “other countries” to take over the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border:
I'm hoping that Amnesty International and all these groups that are outside of us, who are watching, are going to step in also, because we are very quick to step in when other countries are not doing the right thing. I want someone to step -- I want outside countries to step in and say, “Hey, listen, we listen when you're talking to us, we're telling you now this doesn't work for the world.”
“Is that part of your hope, as well?” she pressed O’Rourke.
O’Rourke didn’t immediately shoot down the idea as absurd and a violation of American sovereignty. At first, he gave a mealy-mouthed response about how “President Biden is a good man. He's been a good president for this country.”
He compared the situation to then-President Johnson getting political support for the Voting Rights Act. “We need a moment like that from this President and so I think the burden, the onus is on all of us to step up and put that pressure, give that power to President Biden and help him to act,” he argued.
Only then did he say he hoped that pressure “comes from within the U.S." and "let's make sure that we give the President the power to do the right thing and to do it now.”
If Goldberg’s opening praise for O’Rourke wasn’t enough of a hint that the liberal ladies were big fans of his, fill-in co-host Rachel Lindsey gushed “as a fellow Texan,” about using his “voice” and “presence” “to fight the powers that be in Texas.”
Whoopi Goldberg’s demand that foreign countries intervene at the U.S.’s southern border was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from JCPenney and Carvana. Their contact information is linked.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
ABC’s The View
July 27, 2023
11:27:46 a.m. EasternWHOOPI GOLDBERG: Hey, Texas Governor Greg Abbott brought in razor wire, floating barriers, and state troopers to deter unauthorized migration at the Texas border. This week federal government filed a lawsuit against Texas and the governor, and here to give his opinion on what's going on is former congressman and guy we really hoped was going to become governor of Texas, Beto O’Rourke. Please welcome Beto O’Rourke.
(…)
11:33:07 a.m. Eastern
RACHEL LINDSEY: Beto, as a fellow Texan, I just want to say thank you so much for your voice and your presence and what you do and continue to do to fight the powers that be in Texas.
So, Governor Abbott was defiant accusing the administration of attempting to restrict his state's sovereign interest in securing its borders and said, quote, “Texas will see you in court.” But states can't implement their own immigration policies, so what is Abbott doing and has this been the Republican plan all along to have no oversight?
BETO O’ROURKE: This is why President Biden must act. And I think that lawsuit initiated by the Department of Justice specifically focused on the floating barrier which is really a drowning device is a good first step. But we need to remove the razor wire on the shores underneath the water line. We need to make sure that border patrol agents can do their jobs.
They're literally being stopped by Texas DPS troopers right now. Those troopers are pushing pregnant mothers, little children back into the river right now. I mean, this is really almost unspeakable cruelty that we're seeing and the President has to act.
And, look, I know the politics on this aren't easy and some Democrats would advise him to stay clear from the border and immigration. But he ran on this issue in 2020. He differentiated himself from Donald Trump. And he won that election. I think he has an extraordinary chance to do the same right now. But he must act and he must act today, people's lives are literally on the line.
GOLDBERG: Beto, it's Whoop. I'm hoping that Amnesty International and all these groups that are outside of us, who are watching, are going to step in also, because we are very quick to step in when other countries are not doing the right thing. I want someone to step -- I want outside countries to step in and say, “Hey, listen, we listen when you're talking to us, we're telling you now this doesn't work for the world.” Is that part of your hope, as well?
O’ROURKE: I believe President Biden is a good man. He's been a good president for this country. I believe he wants to do the right thing but, Whoopi, to your point sometimes great presidents need a little push from the people.
You know, LBJ told Dr. Martin Luther King that he wanted to move forward on the voting rights act but just didn't have the political power to get it done. So, Dr. King and Andrew Young and John Lewis and Septima Clark all these great civil rights leaders literally gave him the power. Eight days after the March across the Edmund Pettus bridge in Selma, Alabama, Johnson was able to convene a joint session of congress and by the summer of '65 he signed the Voting Rights Act into law.
We need a moment like that from this President and so I think the burden, the onus is on all of us to step up and put that pressure, give that power to President Biden and help him to act. So, wherever that comes from and I hope it comes from within the U.S., let's make sure that we give the president the power to do the right thing and to do it now.
GOLDBERG: Thank you, Beto. Well done and well said. It’s always good to see you. Our thanks to Beto O’Rourke. See you soon I hope, man. We'll be right back.
