ABC moderator Whoopi Goldberg found herself the odd one out during Tuesday’s edition of The View; as the rest of the table largely didn’t support Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) dumbing down the Capitol Hill dress code so that John Fetterman (D-PA) could ditch a suit and appear on the Senate floor looking like a slob in work out attire. She proclaimed the dress code infringed on his rights and admitted to being a slob too.
Goldberg opened the show by praising Schumer for doing “a really wonderful thing for John Fetterman.” She followed up by scoffing at how “people are upset on the other side of the aisle. They think this is not something that should have been done, that it shouldn't have been changed.”
“It's okay if you don't want to wear shorts and a sweatsuit. You're not obligated to,” she argued in favor of destroying the professionalism of the legislative body. “I think that's great because it's not saying that everybody has to do it. It's saying, you can do it.”
But despite their cheap shots at Republicans for daring to care about decorum in the Capitol, the rest of the cast were more or less on their side. Co-host Joy Behar argued that when teachers started to dress down it sent the wrong message to students:
But I have to say that when I was a teacher, I felt that the teachers when they started wearing jeans and sweat pants and things, they kind of let a signaling to the students that everything is casual and it's not. The teacher should be respected more and when you're on their level they pick it up, I think.
Faux conservative Alyssa Farah Griffin also told Republicans to “sit this out, don't tell me about decorum in the Senate, don’t tell me about defacing the Capitol.” But she too was against the dumbing down of the dress code.
“These are chambers that Abraham Lincoln walked in, John McCain, John F. Kennedy. Lyndon B. Johnson. There's a hallowed sort of ground to it even if at times our current representatives tend to deface it a bit,” she argued.
She went on to lecture Fetterman, saying, “you signed up for a job that has historically had this dress code…It's showing a respect for the institution that you're in.”
Co-host Sunny Hostin also decried the lifting of the dress code. She proclaimed that wearing gym clothes on the Senate floor “demeans the office and the actual decorum in the Senate”:
I’m a traditionalist. And I was always taught you dress for the job that you want not even for the job that you have. And I too walked all of those halls and I walked into the Supreme Court building and I walked into federal courtrooms all the time; and you don't wear jeans and you don't wear hoodies and you don't wear what you would wear coming out of the gym.
After admitting that she didn’t even dress up for church as a kid, Goldberg admitted that she supported Fetterman because she’s a slob too. “I don't care what you wear as long as you get the job done,” she huffed. “I'm more comfortable looking like me and Barbara [Walters] understood that and she allowed it. Okay? I dress in what I wake up in.”
Goldberg also flaunted her profound ignorance of what the word “decorum” meant when she stressed: “You can keep the decorum that works for you but if it doesn't work for him, let him have his thing.”
Rounding out the opposition, co-host Sara Haines (who also sniped at Republicans) pointed to a “Northwestern [University] study that found people who dressed more formally” performed better on tests. “And I remember teachers telling us on test days, dress up for the psychology of what that brings,” she recalled.
Giving herself the final word on the matter, Goldberg went to a commercial break still arguing that she didn’t care if Fetterman was “buck naked” as long as he was getting his job done.
Whoopi’s demand that Senator Fetterman be allowed to be a slob on the Senate floor was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from Dawn and Red Lobster. Their contact information is linked.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
ABC’s The View
September 19, 2023
11:02:06 a.m. EasternWHOOPI GOLDBERG: So yesterday, Chuck Schumer ended the dress code in Washington because they all have to wear suits and skirts and dresses and stuff. And really did kind of a really wonderful thing for John Fetterman. And people are upset on the other side of the aisle. They think this is not something that should have been done, that it shouldn't have been changed.
(…)
11:03:08 a.m. Eastern
GOLDBERG: Now, what's interesting is this kind of for me highlights an issue that the other side often has, because --
JOY BEHAR: Which is?
GOLDBERG: Which is, it's okay if you don't want to wear shorts and a sweat suit. You're not obligated to, but this is a guy who votes with one leg in and one leg out because he doesn't want to interrupt the flow of good-looking people in their suits and dresses and Schumer said, “you know what, let me be thoughtful, let's lighten it up so you can be more comfortable here.”
I think that's great, because it's not saying that everybody has to do it. It's saying, you can do it. You can -- if you've been feeling, “my god, I'd just rather wear pants.”
(…)
11:04:22 a.m. Eastern
BEHAR: So, I find that very annoying -- another thing to be annoyed with him [FL. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R)] about. But on the other hand – I mean, people should dress the way they want. It's like abortion. Don't get one if you're anti-choice, you know. You don't have to go to a drag show if you don't like that. It's not your business all the time!
GOLDBERG: And you don't have to stop other people who may want to. That's the part, that's the part.
BEHAR: But I have to say that when I was a teacher, I felt that the teachers when they started wearing jeans and sweat pants and things, they kind of let a signaling to the students that everything is casual and it's not. The teacher should be respected more and when you're on their level they pick it up, I think.
(…)
11:05:44 a.m. Eastern
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: I respectfully disagree on this one but I preface it all with saying this, if you defended the insurrection, if you've said that was just a peaceful protest, sit this out, don't tell me about decorum in the Senate, don’t tell me about defacing the Capitol.
SARA HAINES: Exactly.
[Applause]
FARAH GRIFFIN: But I worked on Capitol Hill for many years and it was such a cool and exciting job. And one of the early things I did was I led tours. And when constituents came in they would even dress up. They would be like, “These are chambers that Abraham Lincoln walked in, John McCain, Kohn F. Kennedy. Lyndon B. Johnson.” There's a hallowed sort of ground to it even if at times our current representatives tend to deface it a bit.
But also keeping the dress code in place for staff and for visitors to the Capitol. So, for me like there's an earnestness to John Fetterman that I really like, but I sort of think dress for the job that you want. And you signed up for a job that has historically had this dress code. I was a kid that dressed up for church. It’s just kind of showing—
GOLDBERG: I was not.
FARAH GRIFFIN: It's showing a respect for the institution that you're in.
GOLDBERG: But your cloths – go ahead, baby.
SUNNY HOSTIN: I don’t know what’s happening to me because like, Alyssa is making more and more sense to me every single day.
[Laughter]
GOLDBERG: Well, it makes sense that this would make sense to you because of the way you dress. You’re a traditionalist.
HOSTIN: I’m a traditionalist. And I was always taught you dress for the job that you want not even for the job that you have. And I too walked all of those halls and I walked into the Supreme Court building and I walked into federal courtrooms all the time; and you don't wear jeans and you don't wear hoodies and you don't wear what you would wear coming out of the gym.
And it just seems to me even though there is no law, it is just a practice, and I think that it demeans the office and the actual decorum in the Senate…
(…)
11:08:02 a.m. Eastern
BEHAR: Didn’t people behave better when they were on planes and had to dress up?
GOLDBERG: I don't know.
HAINES: They also smoked on those planes.
GOLDBERG: They smoked -- Listen, here's my attitude: I don't care what you wear as long as you get the job done.
[Applause]
I don't care. I don't care if you're in a dress. I don't care, because my -- at this point, you know, if that's how he's comfortable -- I'm more comfortable -- y'all always look good. You’re always put together. I'm more comfortable looking like me and Barbara understood that and she allowed it. Okay? I dress in what I wake up in.
[Applause]
BEHAR: That's not true.
GOLDBERG: Yes! I came—
BEHAR: You didn't sleep in that.
HOSITN: Maybe the shirt.
BEHAR: You don't sleep in that.
HAINES: We can debate that.
GOLDBERG: You understand my point. For me, I -- The respect I want to see is for them for each other. I want to see the respect for us as a nation and that has nothing to do with their clothes. This -- Fetterman is a wonderful cat. He seems to love what he's doing.
HAINES: He's recovered so well.
GOLDBERG: And he’s recovered so well. And he loves doing what he does. So, I don’t have any problem.
I always -- I always feel like everybody has the right. Be you. Do the things that make you right but this idea of people not recognizing that they don't have to -- they can keep -- you can keep the decorum that works for you but if it doesn't work for him, let him have his thing. That's what I was trying to say. Sorry.
HAINES: With you, though, I feel like there's an exception. You're a booming personality that your brand is every part of you. And I think that's to me very different than serving in the Congress in the sense that I don't want to hear – you make an important caveat. I don't want to hear from the people that supported the insurrection. They need to take ten seats. So, I don't care what they're saying.
If you ask me absent of the people complaining like DeSantis and other people, I'm also one of those people that I remember learning in school there was a Northwestern study that found people who dressed more formally tested better. And I remember teachers telling us on test days, dress up for the psychology of what that brings. And I think that –
BEHAR: A written test? What’s that got to do with how you dress?
HAINES: They were saying there’s a psychology about dressing up for the day you take a test. This study shows that it improved test scores—
GOLDBERG: But what if you wore a uniform? I went to school with uniforms so we wore the same thing every day.
HOSTIN: Same. My test scores were always good!
HAINES: That kind of supports what I'm saying. If you're in a uniform, you’re already dressed for showing up for showing up at school.
HOSTIN: For success.
HAINES: I came from the time you dressed up for church, you dressed up for Broadway. I'm not saying all of those things have to be considered equally.
HOSTIN: Even on an airplane I dress up.
HAINES: But I think that when it comes to Congress, so much of the decorum and civility has been lost that to have some standards and rues for them to kind of level up would be lovely to see.
(…)
