The hosts of ABC’s daytime talk show “The View” were quick to circle the wagons when guest host Stephanie Grisham dared to suggest that President Joe Biden bore some responsibility for the inflation woes Americans are facing, particularly at the gas pump.
Whoopi Goldberg and her co-hosts opened the show by mocking freshman Congressman Madison Cawthorn (R-NC), who lost his primary to GOP state Sen. Chuck Edwards on Tuesday evening. But eventually, the former White House press secretary and spokeswoman for then-first lady Melania Trump brought the topic around to the general election — and the fact that some Americans blame Biden for inflation.
REP. MADISON CAWTHORN CONCEDES IN N.C. PRIMARY: With Tuesday's GOP primaries being a mixed bag for candidates backed by former Pres. Trump, #TheView co-hosts and guest co-host @OMGrisham weigh in on the outcome. https://t.co/cVclFZQmjA pic.twitter.com/QorHMuk9zY
— The View (@TheView) May 18, 2022
“I want to say this though,” Grisham interjected. “The country’s not doing well, and so I think that Biden does need to get some stuff in order. We have got high gas prices. We do have inflation. … Come to the midwest. I invite anybody to come to the midwest where farmers can’t afford fertilizer, they can’t afford fuel. People really are suffering at the grocery store, and there are a lot of things going on that I think could affect the poll.”
“And I would say this to you, go to New Jersey. Go to upstate New York. Anywhere in the state of New York, go to the state of New Jersey. Go anywhere in the states. We’re all suffering,” Goldberg pushed back.
“I’ll go with you. You come with me,” Grisham agreed.
“I have been with you. You have not been with me,” Goldberg claimed.
“I’ll come with you,” Grisham agreed again.
“I’ll tell you, everybody is suffering, but let’s place it in the places that it belongs. Okay?” Goldberg continued, insisting, “Gas prices aren’t bad because of anything Biden did. It’s just what he’s going to absorb.”
“There’s also a war going on in Ukraine,” Sunny Hostin added, filling in the White House’s boilerplate response to anyone complaining about gas prices.
“There’s a war going on, and everybody said, this is what we got to do. So we’re in the middle of it. People want baby food, baby stuff,” Goldberg continued, referencing the baby formula shortage. “That is also not on him. That’s on Abbott, but I noticed when people talk about these things, specifically what you were just saying, nobody ever says, here’s the cause of this, and here’s how we have to fight this.”
Goldberg did not address the fact that members of the Biden administration can’t seem to agree on when they knew that the baby formula shortage was going to be a problem — and that even though a whistleblower from the Abbott plant came forward in October of 2021, that person was not interviewed until December.
“Now I see this guy – look. He doesn’t do everything I want him to do. He does a lot of stuff I’m very happy with, but he doesn’t do everything,” Goldberg concluded. But I’m going to give everybody their due when they do do something.”
“Same, but you proved my point. People don’t understand a lot of that, and it will affect the polls,” Grisham insisted.