A rancid stew brewed by the witches of ‘The View’

Apparently, Whoopi Goldberg – a co-host of ABC’s “The View,” which is one of the most liberally focused political opinion television programs ever produced – felt she needed a new topic to fuel the flames of the show’s usual outrageous rhetoric critical of American values. As with most of the co-hosts, where facts do not exist to support their false assertions, they make them up.

A case in point resulted in Whoopi creating for herself the role of an innocent victim. Like a lion tossed meat, the audience – almost all of whom probably voted for Kamala Harris – consumed Whoopi’s victimhood story. While acknowledging it was only conjecture on her part, she fed her audience the idea she had been shunned by a business purely for her politics. Even if this were accurate, it was hypocritical for her to take such offense as one who has often ranted on and on about all things conservative, seldom backing up what she says with facts.

Whoopi claimed she had contacted a bakery – which she would not identify by name but was later reported to be Holtermans in Staten Island, N.Y. – to place orders for a special birthday dessert. When she placed two orders – one for a Nov. 6 taping of the show and one for her birthday on Nov. 13 – she was told there were operational issues with the bakery’s equipment. Whoopi claimed, “They said that their ovens had gone down, all kinds of stuff, but folks went and got them anyway.” She added, “It can’t be because I’m a woman, but perhaps they did not like my politics.”

The bakery’s owner, Jill Holtermann, acknowledged Whoopi had placed the orders but, due to a problem with their boilers, Holtermann became concerned about meeting the delivery dates for the show. She explained she did not want to take the order at first because she “didn’t want to make a commitment that I can’t carry through.” The last thing Holtermann wanted to do was to leave Whoopi in a lurch, awaiting pastries that could not be delivered on time. However, Whoopi chose to take this as a personal affront, rationalizing that it was based on her politics. It was an odd rationalization for Whoopi to jump to unless she recognized she does not represent the voice of reason and that her politics are way out in left field – but that is an issue for a separate discussion.

In any event, Whoopi’s allegation to malign the bakery backfired. Posts online criticized her for failing to move out of America like she had promised if Donald Trump won and suggested viewers “all cancel Whoopi and the witches of The View.” Meanwhile, increased customer orders have been emptying Holtermann’s shelves of its baked goods since the alleged slight.

The hosts of “The View” are renowned for their liberal attacks, regardless of the issue. Why, for example, did Kamala Harris lose to Trump?

Co-host Sunny Hostin proffered that, “As a country, it’s very difficult for people to believe that racism and misogyny, they’re just alive and well. My lived experience tells me that it does still exist, even if your lived experience doesn’t tell you that it exists. The facts support that. It’s not only clear by race, it’s also clear by education. Those who attended college voted for her at a higher degree than those who didn’t.”

But Alyssa Farah Griffin – a member of the Trump administration who voted for Harris – rebuked Hostin’s claims. She said that the “biggest common denominator in this election is people want a good life and ability to provide for their family.” When Hostin escalated the discussion by questioning why more blacks failed to vote for Trump, Griffin corrected her saying that “more of them voted for Donald Trump than [they] had, historically.” Griffin told Hostin she was “missing it” entirely if she believed a “vast majority in this country voted because of racism and misogyny.”

Hostin “tripled down” on her position as if there were no other basis for Harris’ rejection – an ironic claim about a vice president who was among the most unpopular in modern times. Trump won the election by the most votes ever cast for a Republican presidential candidate in our history, but that apparently was insufficient to convince Hostin his victory was rooted in anything other than misogyny and racism.

But the claim was supported by Hostin’s co-hosts – who collectively form a five-person female panel. As such, the man-bashing could easily lead one to believe panel members are philogynists themselves as “The View” has never included a male co-host. And, when male guests appear on the show – mostly fellow liberals – the co-hosts have tended to treat them disrespectfully whenever they have ventured into unfriendly territory in promoting conservative values.

For example, on Nov. 15, New York City Mayor Eric Adams appeared on the show and was repeatedly interrupted by the co-hosts as he attempted to make a point. Addressing the fact that politics in America have evolved into verbal attacks on each other rather than having rational discussions, Adams said we needed to “love the country” by engaging in the latter. As he attempted to explain by adding, ‘We’ve reached a point in this country where we no longer want to engage in conversation. They were even calling him Hitler. That’s an insult to …,” he was rudely interrupted by co-host Ana Navarro who, obviously, did not want Adams defending the Democratic name-calling against Trump. It was just one of several interruptions the co-hosts made as Adams endeavored to logically explain himself.

It is interesting that ABC lawyers, who monitor “The View,” felt it necessary to impose the delivery of “legal notes” on the hosts whenever they made inaccurate allegations about people that might trigger litigation. The co-hosts clearly were frustrated by having to read such legal notes handed to them right after making such a claim. The show’s producer revealed that 75 such notices have been read on the program.

Hostin, who is a lawyer and a regular offender, was visibly verklempt as she had to read notices twice in one week after trashing Trump’s Cabinet selections. It had to be particularly embarrassing for her as she is a senior legal correspondent and analyst for ABC News. Hostin’s uncontrolled rants have hurt the program’s viewership. Apparently, Hostin’s contribution to this was clear enough for executives not only to withdraw their commitment to increase her $8 million salary to $12 million but to cut it to $5 million.

Hostin’s chain of mea culpas in having to read, stone-faced, one legal note after another brought back memories of a late 1970s “Saturday Night Live” “Weekend Update” skit. Gilda Radner portrayed Roseanne Roseannadanna – a dimwitted political commentator who continuously misconstrued things, resulting in her having to be corrected by her co-anchor (Dan Aykroyd). Recognizing her error, Radner ended the skit by turning to the audience and sheepishly saying, “Never mind!”

In the play “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare, the witches engaged in a chant while mixing a stew – the ingredients of which symbolized their malevolent plans for the Scottish king. As “The View” co-hosts engage in their own chant, we realize it symbolizes their malevolent plans to twist the truth.

(Note: No legal notes were issued by this opinion column!)