Whoopi Goldberg belongs to the growing list of people who absolutely can’t stand Karoline Leavitt. Not more than two weeks after she hit pay dirt by being appointed as Donald Trump’s press secretary, Leavitt ruffled a lot of feathers when she framed the president’s federal funding freeze as a crackdown on progressive initiatives that were championed during Joe Biden’s time in office.
“So, what does this pause mean?” Leavitt explained in her first press briefing back in January 2025. “It means no more funding for illegal DEI programs. It means no more funding for the ‘Green New Scam’ that has cost American taxpayers tens of billions of dollars. It means no more funding for transgenderism and ‘wokeness’ across our federal bureaucracy and agencies.” Specifically, her anti-wokeness remarks caused Goldberg to call her out on national television and lecture Leavitt on how exactly she’s benefiting from these principles Trump is fighting against.
During an episode of “The View,” Goldberg said she was angered by Leavitt’s remarks dismissing the very values that helped women like herself get a seat at the table. She pointed out how, if not for that “wokeness” she was speaking of, Leavitt might not have been taken seriously and offered the press secretary role in the first place. “Because […] women were not invited to many tables in this nation — the reason we fought and busted our behinds to make sure you didn’t have to worry about this,” Goldberg told Leavitt. “And now to hear you talk about it … The wokeness was put in place for a reason.” However, it’s not just Goldberg who appears to have strong feelings against the presidential staffer.
Joy Behar was slammed for her ‘sexist’ comments against Karoline Leavitt
Whoopi Goldberg’s co-host Joy Behar also slammed Karoline Leavitt during that viral episode of “The View.” Whereas Goldberg simply questioned Leavitt’s anti-wokeness remarks, Behar went on the offensive and suggested that Leavitt only got her press secretary job because Donald Trump thinks she’s attractive. “I think that she’s probably been put in there because, according to Donald Trump, she’s a 10,” Behar said (via Sky News Australia). Unfortunately, the comment left a bad taste in the mouths of some of the viewers, who blasted Behar for being “openly sexist” against Leavitt.
“I mean, if a Republican said that about a Democrat … then probably the world would cave in about their ears,” political commentator Ben Shapiro argued in a video he shared on Facebook. He also questioned the irony of Behar criticizing someone’s appearance while coming from an industry obsessed with beauty herself. “Joy Behar is from Hollywood, where literally everyone gets cast — except for [her] apparently — based on the basis of some sort of physical appeal,” Shapiro added.
While the presidential aide herself has yet to respond at the time of this writing, the drama sparked rumors about a lawsuit going on between Leavitt and “The View” over comments made about her during the live broadcast. A YouTube channel claimed that Leavitt is seeking $800 million in damages, while another said she’d already won the lawsuit. However, there’s no evidence to suggest that a lawsuit has been filed at all despite what’s been reported by those (unverified) sources.
