Whoopi: Wildfire Victim Pratt Shouldn’t Be ‘Passing Judgment’ on Dems

Nicholas Fondacaro
May 14th, 2026 4:25 PM

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After having actor Spencer Pratt (R) on the show earlier this year in which they praised his run to be the mayor of Los Angeles, his new momentum against incumbent Democrat Karen Bass had the liberal ladies of The View now attempting to coming to her rescue. ABC News moderator Whoopi Goldberg scoffed at him for running as a victim of Bass’s mismanagement during the wildfires. Despite Pratt losing his house, she suggested he didn’t actually know what people went through and that he shouldn’t be “passing judgment” on Bass.

What sparked them to talk about Pratt was his recent viral A.I. generated campaign videos (one showing him as Batman fighting Democratic Party figures as his rogues gallery of villains and one showing him as a Jedi in a lightsaber duel against Bass as Darth Vader on the Hollywood sign).

Treating it as though it was a video of him gunning down politicians, Goldberg performativity proclaimed: “I'm glad we're not showing it because it stunned me and especially when we're talking about, oh, we have to tone down the violence and -- I mean, I was kind of freaked out by what I saw because this was more.”

 

 

Despite The View chastising celebrities for not speaking out on politics earlier in the week, Goldberg didn’t want Pratt speaking:

But I mean, people are asking, are we going to see more celebrities and reality TV stars like Pratt getting into politics? If they know what they're doing, I welcome anybody who knows how to do this, but if you're going to be like the guy who's already in charge, thank you, no. Thank you, no. I'm not happy with what's going on, and I think it's -- just because somebody is famous or is famous for something doesn't mean they know what's going on and how you are thinking and how you're feeling.

Goldberg saved her more insulting commentary for closer to the end of the segment.

She dismissed Pratt’s perspective as someone who was a victim of Bass’s mismanagement during the wildfires last year. She argued that people “have bitched about these wildfires as long as I've lived in California” as if his loss didn’t matter.

In more words than were needed to get her message across, Goldberg told Pratt to shut up with his criticisms of Bass and the Democratic leadership of the state. She suggested he had no solutions and was “throwing shade” and that he should not be “passing judgment” on the Democrats:

But what I don't like is if you don't have any solutions that have not been already tried or if you're throwing shade on people saying she diverted water from this place -I mean, you have to -- you have to have some idea of what needs to be done. (…) So this is not, you know, a ha, ha, let's do an A.I. video. This is real stuff. People -- this is people's lives. And so, before you're passing judgment, you need to be able to tell people what you have to offer, Spencer.

 

 

Additionally, Goldberg accused Pratt of not knowing what people had been through:

You know, and, you know, I don't know what qualifies as the right way to be a politician, but what I do know is they have to be the people who understand what people are going through. And if you don't understand what people are going through, in the way they're going through it, when you're talking about communities, whole communities that have been burned out, whole groups, legacies that are gone.

Goldberg wasn’t the only one to deliver a braindead take.

Completely ignoring Bass’s mismanagement of the wildfires and the city writ large, and reading from a talking points card someone gave her, co-host Behar boasted that she was better because she had a JFK award: “So, I just wanted to make this point. So, Karen Bass has a JFK Profile in Courage award. She navigated California through the worst economic crisis since the depression. Spencer Pratt was snapchatter of the year at the 2018 shorty awards.”

 

 

When Pratt was on the January 28 episode, co-host Sunny Hostin praised his candidacy. “You are going to do so much, I think, for your community because a few weeks ago you announced that you're running to be the next mayor of Los Angeles,” she touted.

But now that his campaign was a serious threat and not a novelty, she had a pretty sever change of heart about how good he would be for the city. Her only point was that he didn’t have the right pedigree, like a Harvard Law School degree:  

And the problem that I have with someone like Spencer Pratt throwing his hat into this particular ring as L.A. Mayor, we're talking about a $14.9 billion budget for the city. It's the second largest city budget in the country, and he is not qualified for it. And we see what happens when people are not qualified for their jobs. (…) And Spencer Pratt, sir, you don't have the same experience. You don't have a law degree from Harvard Law School.

 

 

Accusing him of “jumping” ahead of the line, Hostin spoke to him like a child through the camera and told him to try running for city council first. “And there are baby steps you can take like why not run for city council and learn about the city budget and then maybe become president of the city council and then maybe become the mayor. You're just jumping,” she scolded.

Co-hosts Sara Haines and Alyssa Farah Griffin had similar thoughts in that the people who watched the videos were too stupid to understand that they were fake:

HAINES: But what's the scariest part of the A.I. video we saw and you're not seeing right now was the A.I. part for me, because you're seeing Hugh Jackman in there and our brains aren't designed to say, oh, that's not really Hugh Jackman saying these things.

(…)

FARAH GRIFFIN: I think introducing A.I. into campaigns in general is super dangerous. I think it can be incredibly misleading. It makes people think, to Sara's point, there's endorsements that aren't taking place.

 

 

“The nature of it, I was shocked to see so many people applauding it. There is the lowest hanging fruit, we're throwing tomatoes at like Democratic politicians we don't like. Like, do a little better,” Farah Griffin chided through her artificial lips.

 

 

The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:

ABC’s The View
May 14, 2026
11:03:30 a.m. Eastern

(…)

MAYOR KAREN BASS (D-CA): When you do that and when your messages are so hateful are when you demonize people, then you do provoke people who are unstable, and you can jeopardize people's safety.

[Cuts back to live]

WHOOPI GOLDBERG: Now - I'm glad we're not showing it because it stunned me and especially when we're talking about, oh, we have to tone down the violence and -- I mean, I was kind of freaked out by what I saw because this was more.

But I mean, people are asking, are we going to see more celebrities and reality TV stars like Pratt getting into politics? If they know what they're doing, I welcome anybody who knows how to do this, but if you're going to be like the guy who's already in charge, thank you, no.

SUNNY HOSTIN: Yeah, yeah.

GOLDBERG: Thank you, no. I'm not happy with what's going on, and I think it's -- just because somebody is famous or is famous for something doesn't mean they know what's going on and how you are thinking and how you're feeling, so --

[Applause]

SARA HAINES: What I liked about Spencer Pratt throwing his hat in there is he was affected by the California wildfires and he decided 'I'm going to do something about it.'

So, anybody who wants to civically get involved, I welcome them. Because what I'm for offended by is a Congress that has its least popular rate - popularity are and approval ratings ever and yet we just keep putting the same people back there. So, I would much rather shake up the pot to make it fresh energy, fresh, new blood in there.

But what's the scariest part of the A.I. video we saw and you're not seeing right now was the A.I. part for me, because you're seeing Hugh Jackman in there and our brains aren't designed to say, oh, that's not really Hugh Jackman saying these things.

ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: And he hadn't agreed to it either.

HAINES: He didn't agree to his likeness being used --

JOY BEHAR: Why is he in it?

FARAH GRIFFIN: It's A.I. slop.

HAINES: It's all A.I. - It was all this creative -

BEHAR: But why him?

HAINES: Well, I don't know. We'd have to ask -

HOSTIN: Wolverine and he's --

HAINES: It was a Batman themed thing. The biggest part is our brains cannot separate and when the mayor bass talks about the dangers that can imply, I was not offended as much by the imagery because it was very much a pull from comic books, as it was that there were people that didn't agree to I that are all over it.

FARAH GRIFFIN: The A.I. of it does bother me.

Listen, I like Spencer Pratt. We had him here. I think he's compassionate, I think he has an interesting story to tell. Because I talked to my sister who lives in Los Angeles. People were devastated by the wildfires and frustrated with their leadership. And I applaud anyone getting their hat in the ring. There is a path for Spencer. I'd say it's still uphill just based on the voter registration of Los Angeles.

GOLDBERG: Yeah. Yeah.

FARAH GRIFFIN: But here's my thing, and he said this, I thought this was interesting. "I do not represent a party. I don't have a campaign manager. I don't have campaign consultants, there is no political party backing me."

I'm all for the viral approach if it's pushing forward a message and solutions for the people.

GOLDBERG: Yeah. Yeah.

FARAH GRIFFIN: I think introducing A.I. into campaigns in general is super dangerous. I think it can be incredibly misleading. It makes people think, to Sara's point, there's endorsements that aren't taking place.

The nature of it, I was shocked to see so many people applauding it. There is the lowest hanging fruit, we're throwing tomatoes at like Democratic politicians we don't like. Like, do a little better.

Something we learned I believe there is a path he could get elected, but getting elected is the easy part of the job. Governing three million people in Los Angeles

GOLDBERG: Yeah, you actually have to know what you're doing.[ Applause ]

FARAH GRIFFIN: And fixing what is a broken system. Karen bass handled the fires disastrously.

BEHAR: So, wait a minute.

FARAH GRIFFIN: But actually being qualified to take on that role is what's hard.

BEHAR: Karen bass will be running against Spencer Pratt.

HOSTIN: She is.

GOLDBERG: She is.

[Crosstalk]

BEHAR: So, I just wanted to make this point. So, Karen Bass has a JFK Profile in Courage award. She navigated California through the worst economic crisis since the depression. Spencer Pratt was snapchatter of the year.

[Laughter]

At the 2018 shorty awards.

HOSTIN: Yeah.

BEHAR: That's all.

[Laughter]

HOSTIN: Well, I mean, I think you're talking about qualifications, right?

BEHAR: Yeah.

HOSTIN: And the problem that I have with someone like Spencer Pratt throwing his hat into this particular ring as L.A. Mayor, we're talking about a $14.9 billion budget for the city. It's the second largest city budget in the country, and he is not qualified for it. And we see what happens when people are not qualified for their jobs.

[Applause]

And that's not to say that this hasn't happened before. We've had Ronald Reagan who was an actor, some people would say he was a great president. We've had --

BEHAR: But he was the president of SAG at one point.

HOSTIN: Yes, he was.

BEHAR: He was a union president. He had some -

HOSTIN: He was a union president.

FARAH GRIFFIN: He was a governor before he was president.

BEHAR: He was a governor.

HOSTIN: He was a governor. And then you had Arnold Schwarzenegger who was an actor and then governor and by many accounts he did well. But these are people i think that sometimes are, you know, anomalies that that may not necessarily be the case.

Spencer Pratt is now comparing himself to President Obama, and he said - he said-

GOLDBERG: [Laughter]

HOSTIN: Yeah. He said -

BEHAR: What, snapchatter of the year is not the same thing as the head of the law review at Harvard?

HOSTIN: Well, he said 'I have two awards from my community. President Obama actually didn't even have any awards when he was a community organizer. He was able to become a senator and then a president for eight years. So I feel like him and I have the same experience.'

BEHAR: Oh, please.

HOSTIN: And Spencer Pratt, sir, you don't have the same experience. You don't have a law degree from Harvard Law School. You don't -- you were not a senator. And there are baby steps you can take like why not run for city council an learn about the city budget and then maybe become president of the city council and then maybe become the mayor. You're just jumping.

(…)

11:10:23 a.m. Eastern

GOLDBERG: No, he's not the answer but here's the thing, nobody -- You know, they have bitched about these wildfires as long as I've lived in California, it's always been -- it's always been a problem.

But what I don't like is if you don't have any solutions that have not been already tried or if you're throwing shade on people saying she diverted water from this place -I mean, you have to -- you have to have some idea of what needs to be done.

A lot of people were affected by those wildfires, a lot of my friends, a lot of people you know lost everything.

HOSTIN: Right.

GOLDBERG: So this is not, you know, a ha, ha, let's do an A.I. video. This is real stuff. People -- this is people's lives. And so, before you're passing judgment, you need to be able to tell people what you have to offer, Spencer.

[Applause]

You know, and, you know, I don't know what qualifies as the right way to be a politician, but what I do know is they have to be the people who understand what people are going through. And if you don't understand what people are going through, in the way they're going through it, when you're talking about communities, whole communities that have been burned out, whole groups, legacies that are gone.

It's more than just this. It's all these things. You got to be prepared for a lot more stuff than I think you -- it is a really hard job and in California particularly.

(…)

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