Note: we are republishing this story, which originally made the news in July 2022.
In a statement, The View co-host Whoopi Goldberg apologized for her claims that Turning Point USA had “embraced” neo-Nazis during its Student Action Summit in Florida.
She stated: “In Monday’s conversation about Turning Point USA, I put the young people at the conference in the same category as the protesters outside, and I don’t like it when people make assumptions about me and it’s not any better when I make assumptions about other people, which I did. So my bad, I’m sorry.”
Goldberg’s apology came after Turning Point USA threatened to take legal action, demanding that The View retract the false statements made by Goldberg.
Goldberg’s comments came as the co-hosts discussed TPUSA’s Student Action Summit, which they likened to a WWE event. Co-host Joy Behar stated that neo-Nazi protesters were demonstrating outside the venue and called out Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for speaking at the event. At no point did Behar condemn the protesters.
During the show, Sara Haines read TPUSA’s legal disclaimer which condemned the neo-Nazis and asserted that “they have nothing to do with our organization.”
Goldberg, without evidence, claimed that Turning Point USA had “let them in.”
“You let them in and you knew what they were. So you are complicit,” she said, adding that organization “embraced” the neo-Nazi group.
These comments drew swift response from TPUSA, which threatened legal action against The View and called for an apology and retraction.
Haines apologized during Wednesday’s show, stating: “On Monday we talked about the fact that there were openly neo-Nazi demonstrators outside the Florida Student Action Summit of the Turning Point USA group. We want to make clear that these demonstrators were gathered outside the event and that they were not invited or endorsed by Turning Point USA.”
“A Turning Point USA spokesman said the group ‘100 percent condemns those ideologies’ and said, ‘Turning Point USA security tried to remove the neo-Nazis from the area but could not because they were on public property,'” she added. “Also, Turning Point USA wanted us to clarify that this was a Turning Point USA Summit, and not a Republican Party event. So, we apologize for anything we said that may have been unclear on these points.”
However, the spokesperson for TPUSA was not willing to accept the apology since it had been delivered by Haines, not Goldberg.
This prompted Goldberg’s apology.
