Whoopi Goldberg turns on Barack Obama with furious rant
'It's going to require a little bit less navel-gazing and a little less whining and being in fetal positions,' Obama told donors, according to The New York Times. 'And it's going to require Democrats to just toughen up.' Never one to hold back, Goldberg was furious.
'Let me remind everybody who was out in the front lines marching when we had the giant marches that went on. It was the people. The people went out. They were not navel-gazing,' she declared as she stared down the camera. 'It was older people who were saying, "Why are you touching my Social Security?" It was not people whining. It was about people saying, "Why are you taking these rights away from my child when my child was born here?"'
The 69-year-old didn't stop there. In a pointed rebuttal that directly challenged both Obama and Shark Tank billionaire Mark Cuban, who had also criticized the Democratic Party's messaging, Goldberg insisted that criticism of the left was misdirected. 'This has not been about Democrats laying back,' she thundered. 'This has been about y'all. Because their messaging was always the same. Democrats have been angry at what this man tried to do the last time. They've been angry this time. So, with much due respect to you both, I believe you are pointing the finger at the wrong person when you say Democrats.'
Cuban, speaking in a virtual address that aired during the segment, scolded Democratic strategists for reducing their message to a simplistic mantra: 'Trump sucks.' 'We picked the wrong pressure points,' Cuban said. 'It's just "Trump sucks." That's the underlying thought of everything the Democrats do. Trump says the sky is blue. "Trump sucks." That's not the way to win.'
Co-hosts Ana Navarro and Sunny Hostin tried to offer more nuanced takes urging Democratic officials to produce detailed policy alternatives rather than rely on protest alone. Navarro pointed out how the public resistance to Trump's immigration policies, was actually resulting in a collapse in his polling numbers. 'Right now, Trump's handling on immigration has gone dramatically down,' she noted. 'Why is that? Because the American people have taken it upon themselves to amplify the truth, to show up and protest these horrible, inhumane raids... to tell the truth about what their relatives are going through.'
'We have heard the story of US citizen children with cancer who are not getting treatment because they've had to leave with their deported parents. Because the American people are doing their part - amplifying, showing up at protest, donating, organizing, and being vigilant. So, some of us say that Donald Trump sucks. He does suck. And it feels good to say it,' Navarro said to cheers from the audience.
Goldberg then turned her ire toward those criticizing flood victims in Texas, in a another rant that was no less emotional. 'Let's be really clear,' Goldberg said, 'You can't blame anybody for these floods. It's nobody's fault. I didn't do it. You didn't do it. Has nothing to do with Washington. This was a natural disaster.'
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That debate further intensified as President Donald Trump's administration sought to deport some foreign-born pro-Palestinian campus activists. The Islamic Center of Southern California has been targeted before, including vandalism in 2023 and separate threats that authorities said in 2016 were made by a man who was found with multiple weapons in his home. Incidents like the latest one cause concern, Ricci said. 'People see that it's not going to take very much to spark something in the city,' he said. 'There's a lot of emotion. There's a lot of passion' on both the pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli sides. Salam Al-Marayati, president of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, said 'if people think they can get away with graffiti, then the next step is to firebomb a mosque or even go attack worshippers.' Opening doors and receiving support Al-Marayati and others praised how many have shown support for the affected Muslim communities. 'The best preparation is what we did in Los Angeles and that's to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our allies and be there for one another,' he said. In Texas, a gathering at Nueces brought together neighbors and others, including Christians and Jews, to paint over the vandalism, clean up the property and garden, Zayan said. 'It was beautiful,' she said. 'It's really important to open your doors and open your heart and invite people and to rebuild this trust and connection,' she said. 'For non-Muslims, it was a great opportunity for them to show their love and support. They really wanted to do something.' ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
