For years now, the liberal ladies of ABC’s The View have denounced attempts to draw attention to President Biden’s obvious mental decline. Their responses to the criticisms and warning bells had been to call those pointing it out “ageist” and try to explain away the inexplicable things Biden was saying and doing, all while largely refusing to play video of it. But on Tuesday, they decided they wanted to be blatant hypocrites and cackle at an edited video of former President Trump misspeaking and having gaffes while suggesting those focused on Biden were the real hypocrites.
“You know, a lot of people -- A lot of people are wondering if you-know-who is a couple of steps slower on the campaign trail after a string of – how shall I say, hmm, mental lapses,” moderator Whoopi Goldberg quipped ahead of the video montage. “Being confused about who actually is currently serving as president right now. He's saying he's doing it on purpose, but we would like you to judge for yourselves.”
The first to spout off at length was former Trump White House staffer Alyssa Farah Griffin, who said Trump was “delu-lu” (slang for “delusional”) and how she never really thought he was that smart. “You can watch him. He is not as sharp as he was in 2016, and many of us would argue he wasn't that sharp then. You see a real decline in him. It is a fact that you can't get past,” she proclaimed.
Then why did you continue to work for him for four years, Alyssa?
She went on to strongly hint at Trump supporters we hypocrites for looking past Trump’s gaffes while pouncing on Biden’s:
But what is remarkable to me is this, our country is so polarized that Trump supporters see that and they don't think a thing about it. It doesn't really affect them. He's my tough guy. He's my fighter. But see any gaffe of Joe Biden and Joe Biden is aging, he's too old. And it’s this sort of Rorschach test of where the country is.
But the real hypocrites were on the set with her.
While Goldberg poked Trump for when “he talked about Frederick Douglass still being alive,” they defended Biden last year when he called out for late Congresswoman Jackie Walorski (R-IN) who had passed away a month earlier. “She passed last month not, like, a hundred years ago!” Goldberg shouted at the time.
“I think what it really shows is that this country is so ageist. This country has a problem with age,” racist and anti-Semitic co-host Sunny Hostin sneered, last year in response to the Jackie incident. And in 2020, Hostin declared that it was “inappropriate” and “crass” to question Biden’s mental fitness for office.
But on Tuesday, Hostin was getting her kicks in on Trump. “When he makes these cognitive mistakes because they're indicia of cognitive decline,” she argued. She suggested that when Trump mixed up Biden with former President Obama, he was blowing a “dog whistle to the white supremacists of the country.”
She also tried to suggest Trump’s doctor was not a real doctor who went to an accredited medical school because he’s a doctor of osteopathic medicine, despite the fact they’re accredited from the same organization as M.D.s. Then again, Hostin once rubbed what one could argue was just a red flashlight on her neck and claimed it was “therapeutic light energy.”
“If I paid a doctor, they could tell me I look 25. I mean, you can find a doctor if you pay them to say anything about you. I don't trust these doctors,” co-host Joy Behar scoffed. Meanwhile, earlier this year, she said a braindead and ‘drooling’ Biden was better “than any Republican.”
Co-host Sara Haines proposed that Trump was just that stupid. “It would not surprise me if Donald Trump did not know we had World War II,” she chided. “When you've skated through your life with no accountability and you have money and you have power, maybe it doesn't matter how you test on your history test.”
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
ABC’s The View
November 28, 2023
11:02:37 a.m. EasternWHOOPI GOLDBERG: You know, a lot people -- A lot of people are wondering if you-know-who is a couple of steps slower on the campaign trail after a string of – how shall I say, hmm, mental lapses. Being confused about who actually is currently serving as president right now. He's saying he's doing it on purpose, but we would like you to judge for yourselves. Please show the clip.
[Edited video of former President Trump misspeaking]
11:04:13 a.m. Eastern
GOLDBERG: So, what is happening? I mean, this is not new. I mean, remember, at one point he talked about Frederick Douglass still being alive.
JOY BEHAR: Yes.
GOLDBERG: And, you know, it's a little -- I meaning, what's happening? Is it he's doing this on purpose or is he just, you know mixed up?
SUNNY HOSTIN: I'm going to go to the expert because I can't tell.
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: I just want to give a shout out to my producer who wrote “Is Trump delu-lu?” as the subject line for this. He has lost speed on his fastball or whatever botched baseball metaphor. You can watch him. He is not as sharp as he was in 2016; and many of us would argue he wasn't that sharp then. You see a real decline in him. It is a fact that you can't get past.
But what is remarkable to me is this, our country is so polarized that Trump supporters see that and they don't think a thing about it. It doesn't really affect them. He's my tough guy. He's my fighter. But see any gaffe of Joe Biden and Joe Biden is aging, he's too old.
BEHAR: That's right.
FARAH GRIFFIN: And it’s this sort of Rorschach test of where the country is.
This was stunning to me. There’s CNN poll – and granted, we don't trust all polls – but from November that said 53 percent of Americans believe Trump had the stamina and sharpness compared to only 25 for Joe Biden. They are only three and half years apart.
HOSTIN: And one rides a bike and one eats cheeseburgers.
FARAH GRIFFIN: And listen, I think that there is – You guys know my take that I'd like to see younger generations running anyway. I’d like to see somebody other than this head-to-head matchup that seven in ten Americans don't want. If you’re going to call one out for the gaffes, Joe Biden has had plenty of them, you’ve got to call out Trump too. There’s no strategy there. He's just slowing down.
HOSTIN: I think he's slowing down. His doctor who is not a medical doctor, but a D.O., a doctor of osteopathic medicine – there is a difference between the two – said he is in great shape, right?
GOLDBERG: Is this the lady that --
HOSTIN: I think it's a man. It's a guy and his name is Dr. Bruce Arron Wald, a D.O., he also said – but he did not include the following information: his height, his weight, his cholesterol level, or his blood pressure—
FARAH GRIFFIN: Which he lied about during his mug shot.
HOSTIN: Which he lied about in his mug shot.
So, I agree. We're seeing a cognitive decline but we're also seeing some dog whistles from him. The reason -- when he makes these cognitive mistakes because they're indicia of cognitive decline.
GOLDBERG: So, you think they’re purposeful?
HOSTIN: Well, I think he's mixing them all in. I think he’s having the cognitive decline and then when he catches himself making mistakes, he says because Obama is really Biden's boss. That is a dog whistle to the white supremacists of the country that are like “I don't want a black man in charge again!”
BEHAR: That’s right. That’s right.
GOLDBERG: It’s too late! You can't undo that! It already happened! Deal with it!
BEHAR: I agree with that. I think he appeals to that racist section of his base that doesn't want a black guy to get any kind of credit. You know, he made his bones on the birth of B.S. You know? And also he's been talking a lot about Obamacare, getting rid of Obamacare lately. All of a sudden this is coming up so I agree with you.
HOSTIN: Which, there are more white people on – the Affordable Care Act – than black people.
BEHAR: But regarding his health. If I paid a doctor, they could tell me I look 25. I mean, you can find a doctor if you pay them to say anything about you. I don't trust these doctors.
SARA HAINES: Well, I believe it's a dog whistle but I also believe that specific reference might be to kind of emasculate President Biden. Remember how people called him President Bannon because we thought Steve Bannon was running the White House. I could see him trying to do one or the other –
BEHAR: Who President Bannon?
HAINES: Donald Trump when he was in office. We talked. Some people including myself felt Bannon was running a lot of things.
BEHAR: Yes. That’s right. That’s right.
HAINES: So, I could see him trying to move that switcharoo.
But when we talk about a decline, you implied they knew in the first place. It would not surprise me if Donald Trump did not know we had World War II. He's not exactly a military guy and I don't even mean this insulting. When you've skated through your life with no accountability and you have money and you have power, maybe it doesn't matter how you test on your history test. I don't know if he knows -- he doesn't even know he lost an election! Like, are we really --
HOSTIN: Oh, he knows that! He knows he lost!
(…)
