“The View” co-host Whoopi Goldberg lashed out at comedian Bill Maher during Monday’s broadcast, accusing him of being “flippant” when he said over the weekend that he was tired of the COVID-19 “paranoia” that has gripped so many Americans.
“Over the weekend Bill Maher made a case for people who have been vaccinated, boosted, and have been following the rules since all of this started,” Goldberg began, showing a short clip of Maher’s show from Friday night.
“I don’t want to live in your paranoid world anymore,” Maher said. “Your masked paranoid world, you know, you go out and it’s silly now. You know, you have a mask, you have to have a card, you have to have a booster, they scan your head like you’re a cashier and I’m a bunch of bananas — I’m not bananas, you are!”
WATCH:
“How dare you!” Whoopi ridiculously pops off against Bill Maher for anti-mask jokes, tell him to say out of society. Sara Haines joins in by saying masks will be a permanent “new normal” like airport security after 9/11. “I may never … feel comfortable without a mask.” pic.twitter.com/AHjJcKR79c
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) January 24, 2022
“That’s … not really funny to people who have lost their kids to this vaccine [sic], or people who have lost family members or dear friends to this,” Goldberg continued once the clip ended. “It’s just — you know, listen. Nobody on the planet really wants to go through this. This is not something we’re doing because it’s, you know, sexually gratifying. This is what we’re doing to protect our families.”
“And you don’t have to do it, but stay away from everybody!” Goldberg continued, saying that anyone who did not want to continue to take precautions should stay away from others. “Because if you’re the one who’s not paying attention and you’re coughing and sneezing, you don’t want to — then stay out of the public, man. This is not — nobody wants this!”
“I don’t want it, and I think he’s forgetting that people are still at risk who cannot get vaccinated. People who can’t get the — little kids under the age of five, or people with health conditions,” Goldberg added. “How dare you be so flippant, man! There’s still people that —”
“They act like they’re over it,” co-host Joy Behar added with a shrug. “Like they’re out of a relationship, ‘Oh, I’m over it, I don’t feel like seeing him anymore.'”
Co-host Sara Haines argued that the addition of face masks and hand sanitizer might be more of a permanent change, comparing the constant presence of those mitigation factors to the way commercial flying has changed since the 9/11 terror attacks. “I think some of the things we’ve learned in this pandemic are going to stay the same. I may never ride a subway again without a mask. I may never go indoors with big crowds and ever feel comfortable without a mask, and that’s up to me to do that,” she added.