There was a potent and toxic combination of righteous indignation and ignorance oozing from ABC News moderator Whoopi Goldberg, during Tuesday’s edition of The View. In addition to blaming the crash of a Delta Airlines flight on the runway of an airport in Toronto, Canada on Elon Musk, she demanded to know: when did she give permission to NASA to sign contracts with Musk’s SpaceX?
At the top of the segment, Goldberg blamed Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) for all the plane crashes. “I have been panicking over all this insanity with these planes!” she shouted as she proceeded to stumble over the pronunciation of DOGE. “And there's all kinds of stuff going on. Like, so let's start with the string of mass firings by Elon Musk's dodge – Doege? Dogge? Doggy. Dogey. Has sparked a lot of chaos, confusion, and fear…”
Adding: “Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is defending the firing of 400 FAA workers.”
Nearing the end of the segment, Goldberg called on Musk to be what gets “cut” next, despite being incapable of remembering what a government contract was:
GOLDBERG: Elon has very many, what do you call it --
SUNNY HOSTIN: Government contracts.
GOLDBERG: Government contracts.
She then demanded to know when she personally gave permission for the government to buy Telsa Cybertrucks and go into contract with SpaceX.
“I don't remember looking for an armored car,” she shouted like a lunatic. “I don't remember asking for it, I don't know why I'm paying for it. I want to know when did I say, ‘hey, we need another agency next to NASA, so let's just’ – So, when did we start paying for his stuff?!”
Sorry to be the one to break it two you Whoopi, but an unelected, washed-up Hollywood has been doesn’t get an individual say in military and government procurement.
Goldberg’s later comment that SpaceX was NASA’s “competition” also betrayed her ignorance of just how long SpaceX had been around and the company’s relationship with the space agency.
Here’s a little history lesson that Goldberg could benefit from. After being founded my Musk in 2002, SpaceX’s Falcon series of rockets revolutionized space craft manufacturing in the way they brought down the cost of construction and maintenance. And whereas NASA-developed booster rockets were one-time-use and were dumped in the ocean, SpaceX’s were reusable. More recently, they developed the technology to catch the rockets out of the air when they returned.
Goldberg was likely also ignorant of how the U.S. Space Shuttle program shut down in 2011 under her favorite president: Barack Obama. After which, the United States government was paying Russia to fly American astronauts into space (how embarrassing). The following year (2012; still Obama), NASA and SpaceX inked a contract to develop a crew capsule: Dragon. And in May of 2020, SpaceX took its first crew to the International Space Station.
Actually knowing the history of how SpaceX revitalized American space exploration, brought manned launches back to American soil, and was the literal engines of NASA these days, would really help Goldberg from looking like a complete fool with profoundly ignorant arguments like these:
If we want to cut some money let's cut some of these. I'm okay with that. Cause I have to – we have to pay for it. You are paying for everything he sends up that comes back down that falls back down and breaks up. That's out of our pockets.
But ABC doesn’t care about the truth. They just want rage
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
ABC’s The View
February 18, 2025
11:17:28 a.m. Eastern(…)
WHOOPI GOLDBERG: I have been panicking over all this insanity with these planes! You know? And there's all kinds of stuff going on. Like, so let's start with the string of mass firings by Elon Musk's dodge – Doege? Dogge?
JOY: Doge, they say, yeah.
GOLDBERG: Doggy. Dogey. Has sparked a lot of chaos, confusion, and fear because Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is defending the firing of 400 FAA workers. But former Secretary Pete Buttigieg slammed the firings of employees who control communications, radio, commuter systems all given – given all the confusion, so is this really the time to be laying off folks, and who is exactly getting laid off?
(…)
11:21:18 a.m. Eastern
GOLDBERG: Let me say someplace that could really use a lot of cutting, you know – [Turns to address someone in the audience] Yeah.
[ Laughter ]
Elon.
JOY BEHAR: Elon.
GOLDBERG: Elon has very many, what do you call it --
SUNNY HOSTIN: Government contracts.
GOLDBERG: Government contracts.
BEHAR: Yeah.
HOSTIN: Yeah.
GOLDBERG: I think, because I don't remember -- maybe y'all heard it, but I don't remember looking for an armored car.
HOSTIN: An ugly one too.
GOLDBERG: I don't remember -- I don't -- I don't care what it looks like, I don't remember asking for it, I don't know why I'm paying for it. I want to know when did I say, ‘hey, we need another agency next to NASA, so let's just’ – So, when did we start paying for his stuff?
SARA HAINES: You’re talking about SpaceX overseeing FAA.
GOLDBERG: No. No. You know that he's going to be cutting NASA.
HOSTIN: Yeah.
GOLDBERG: That's the competition. So, what is the real deal here? If we want to cut some money let's cut some of these. I'm okay with that.
[Applause]
BEHAR: Follow the money.
GOLDBERG: Cause I have to – we have to pay for it.
HAINES: Yeah.
GOLDBERG: You are paying for everything he sends up that comes back down that falls back down and breaks up. That's out of our pockets. We'll be right back.
