Not surprisingly, David Letterman’s appearance on The View Friday quickly devolved into Trump bashing. Letterman reminisced about Trump’s many appearances on his show as a private citizen and talked about how “he seemed like a guy” back then, as opposed to now, where he has become a “goon.”
The long-serving former host of CBS’s The Late Show described Trump as one of “two people that you could always count on” to come on the show. Letterman told the co-hosts of The View that “he was an excellent guest…to just beat up on.” Co-host Sunny Hostin seemed quite surprised that “he could take a joke then.”
Hostin dug into the vault and produced a video clip of Letterman chatting with Trump all the way back in 1987, when Letterman was the host of NBC’s Late Night. In that particular clip, Trump refused to disclose his net worth to Letterman. Hostin had set up the clip by noting “an interview that you did with him in the late ‘80s is actually making the rounds again because he’s lost I think a billion dollars, he’s one of the only people in history to have ever lost that much money.”
Letterman kind of refused to address Hostin’s declaration that he “seemed sort of skeptical of his net worth at the time.” Instead, Letterman talked about how “there, he seemed like a guy” before proceeded to fantasize about having “the chance to talk to him in person” again and promising to ask him “when did you become a goon?”
This is hardly the first time Letterman has sucked up to the Trump haters in recent months. During an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Letterman had indicated that he would like to ask the President “why are you such a putz?” In a recent appearance on NBC’s Today, Letterman said that if he still had a late night show, he would be “ugly” to President Trump.
Co-host Joy Behar, perhaps the most forceful anti-Trump voice on The View, agreed with Letterman’s analysis, describing private citizen Trump as “just somebody who came on the show, a New York character.” She argued that President Trump has changed because “power corrupts and…absolute power corrupts absolutely and that’s what he’s into.”
It seems like the co-hosts of The View and Letterman agreed that President Trump first became a “goon” when he emerged as the leader of “the basket of deplorables.” Co-host Whoopi Goldberg argued that President Trump first went off the rails when he “began” the birther movement.
Letterman asked “do you think that he came up with these ideas on his own?” Goldberg responded: “oh, hell no.” When Letterman asked Goldberg if she thought “he’s come up with any ideas on his own,” Goldberg answered “very few” before the segment came up against a hard break.
At the beginning of the segment, Behar had noted how “Howard Stern was on the other day going on about what a great guest” President Trump was. Like Letterman, Stern has not hesitated to trash his former friend; much to the delight of the Trump-hating media.
A transcript of the relevant portion of Friday’s edition of The View is below. Click “expand” to read more.
The View
05/31/19
11:17 AM
JOY BEHAR: Somebody who did come back to your show quite a few times was Donald Trump, if I recall. I mean, we’ve had him on this show a few times and Howard was on…Howard Stern was on the other day going on about what a great guest he was. He wasn’t that great a guest on this show. But he was a great guest to Howard.
DAVID LETTERMAN: He was a great, a great guest for us too. There were, there were two people that you could always count on, one was Regis who I don’t think anybody remembers. You remember a guy named Regis Philbin?
BEHAR: Yeah, we remember.
(APPLAUSE)
LETTERMAN: And the, and the other one was Donald Trump and, and I think Donald came on and always again a standing ovation. Can you imagine that now?
BEHAR: He gave it to himself though, right?
LETTERMAN: And, and I would say, Don, you must be exhausted all day evicting elderly widows and he would laugh and laugh…
SUNNY HOSTIN: He would laugh at it!
LETTERMAN: Yeah, and I, and I would say, what are, what are you doing? Are you, are you wind tunnel testing your hair and he would laugh and he would laugh. And…
HOSTIN: He could take a joke then.
LETTERMAN: He could take a punch pretty good and he, I think he just liked being on TV and, and he was an excellent guest to…for somebody I could just beat up on.
BEHAR: Yeah.
LETTERMAN: And, and smack around and stuff.
BEHAR: Didn’t you show his tie one time?
LETTERMAN: Yeah, he…the tie and stuff and they were all made in China and…and you could tell that he…he just like a goofball, just like a bonehead…
HOSTIN: Well, one of the, one of the…
(LAUGHTER)
HOSTIN: …an interview that you did with him in the late ‘80s is actually making the rounds again because he’s lost I think a billion dollars, he’s one of the only people in history to have ever lost that much money.
WHOOPI GOLDBERG: In this country.
LETTERMAN: Really?
HOSTIN: In this country.
GOLDBERG: The only one.
HOSTIN: And I think we have a…
LETTERMAN: A billion.
HOSTIN: Yeah. We have a clip of, of your interview.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LETTERMAN: How much…how much are you worth right now as you’re sitting right here?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Zero idea, David.
LETTERMAN: Give us a figure that we might ponder here.
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: You’ll never get it out of me, David.
LETTERMAN: You, you won’t put a figure…just an imaginary figure…
TRUMP: Never have, never would.
LETTERMAN: A billion. You’re worth a billion dollars.
TRUMP: Perhaps.
LETTERMAN: Perhaps?
TRUMP: Perhaps.
LETTERMAN: Perhaps. Are we the low side of perhaps or the high side of perhaps?
(LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOSTIN: So you, you seemed sort of skeptical of his net worth at that time.
LETTERMAN: Yeah, but you know, the important thing about it is and maybe I’m the only one that shares this opinion, but there he seemed like a guy. He seemed just like a guy, right?
BEHAR: That’s right.
LETTERMAN: And were I ever to get the chance to talk to him in person and, you know, I won’t live long enough for that to happen but I would say when did you become a goon? You know, when did, when did that happen? You used to be just like a guy.
HOSTIN: Yeah.
LETTERMAN: Did you have that same…
BEHAR: Absolutely. He was just somebody who came on the show, a New York character…
LETTERMAN: That’s right, exactly, a New York character.
BEHAR: But you know what they say. Power corrupts and power…absolute power corrupts absolutely and that’s what he’s into.
GOLDBERG: Don’t forget that this…a lot of this started when he began the Obama was not born in the U.S.A.
LETTERMAN: Right but where…
GOLDBERG: That movement…
LETTERMAN: But why was that necessary?
GOLDBERG: Because…because he was pondering running. He was…
LETTERMAN: Right.
GOLDBERG: …remember, he was throwing it out and so people said, well, you know what you should say, if you push this people really think this is a great…
BEHAR: Yeah.
GOLDBERG: …and that’s what he did.
MCCAIN: Legitimatization in Republican politics happened when he came to CPAC. Remember when he was invited to speak at CPAC…
LETTERMAN: Yes.
MCCAIN: …and all of a sudden people saw him as a politician?
LETTERMAN: But do…do you think that he came up with these ideas on his own?
GOLDBERG: Oh, hell no.
(LAUGHTER)
LETTERMAN: Do you think he’s come up with any idea on his own?
GOLDBERG: Very few.
