WATCH: Whoopi Lectures Pete Hegseth On What It Means To Be A Soldier

Whoopi Goldberg took a moment during Wednesday’s broadcast of “The View” to lecture War Secretary Pete Hegseth about what it means to be a soldier, arguing that he “should know” what he was subjecting service members to when they deployed to the Middle East.

Goldberg and her cohosts insisted, as they have previously, that President Donald Trump’s administration launched Operation Epic Fury and unleashed American military force on the Iranian regime without first planning for contingencies. That, she complained, meant that he was “sending people in to die.”

WATCH:

Whoopi claims the administration is just “sending people in to die” “without a plan” and nothing else. Despite never serving herself, she lectures Secretary Hegseth (who did serve) about what it means “to be a solider in our Army” and claims he doesn’t care about the lives of… pic.twitter.com/nUun9OJxd3

— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) March 25, 2026

After first asserting that the United States was manipulating the numbers to hide the number of American troops who were already deployed to the Middle East and the number of those who had been hurt or killed, Goldberg asserted that there was still no plan in place to bring Operation Epic Fury to an end.

“At this point, at this point, I want them to stop what they’re doing. They are sending people in to die. They are sending people in to die and I’m surprised because Hegseth served,” Goldberg said, suggesting that because American troops were in harm’s way, Hegseth could not possibly have planned the operation.

“Yes, he did,” Sunny Hostin agreed.

“He served. He should know what —” Goldberg said.

Cohost Abby Huntsman added, “He should know better than anybody.”

“Yes, better than any body, but when you listen to [Hegseth] — Stop looking so angry! He should know more than anybody what it takes to be a soldier in our Army,” Goldberg explained, adding, “What it means when you send people in. When you send them in with a plan, it’s horrific. You send them in without a plan, you willy-nilly and you’re not explaining what’s going on.”

“Fathers, mothers, daughter, sisters, brothers, these are all our American citizens who are being asked to do this. And because, because of the way the military is, they will do what they’re asked to do,” she continued. “Damnit, I rather this were in the hands of people who actually cared about them enough to say, ‘I going to do everything I can for you to be not in a place where you could be killed.'”