Things got touchy on the ABC talk show “The View” on Thursday morning as host Whoopi Goldberg went off on Senator Lindsey Graham’s comments while guest Newt Gingrich weighed in on the coronavirus pandemic. A discussion point about how the stimulus bill may incentivize some to not want to return to work, and Senator Graham’s name was injected.
Gingrich was interviewed on “The View” from Rome, Italy, where he has been under quarantine for weeks with his wife, U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican Calista Gingrich. Though the hosts of the ABC talk show seemingly wanted Gingrich to bash Donald Trump for his handling of the coronavirus, he refused to take the bait, much to their dismay.
While Gingrich was reluctant to criticize Trump, he admitted that it was unlikely that the president would be able to get the economy up and running by Easter, as Trump said he would. “I think the president’s direction is right, but probably the speed won’t happen as fast as he wants it to,” Gingrich said.
Then things got interesting when co-host Sunny Hostin asked Gingrich to give his thoughts on the $2 trillion stimulus package passed by the Senate Wednesday night.
“Several Republican senators are worried unemployment benefits will be so enticing that people will stop working,” Hostin said. “Senator Graham even implied that the benefits would incentivize well-trained nurses to stay home and collect a check.”
Hostin was referring to a joint statement issued by Senators Lindsey Graham, Ben Sasse, and Tim Scott that read, “If the federal government accidentally incentivizes layoffs, we risk life-threatening shortages in sectors where doctors, nurses, and pharmacists are trying to care for the sick, and where growers and grocers, truckers and cooks are trying to get food to families’ tables.”
“Do you share their concern?” Hostin asked.
“Sure, as a practical matter you have to,” Gingrich responded. “As I understand it, there’s one part of this where you can actually make more money not working. That’s not a very good incentive.”
This was enough to cause co-host Goldberg to chime in; she could be heard shouting off camera, “That’s so disrespectful!” subsequently adding, “Lindsey Graham should be ashamed of himself.”
“It just seems to me the suggestion that nurses who are on the front line are not going to work and sacrifice the way that they have because they’re going to be making a few hundred dollars more is ludicrous,” Hostin told Gingrich, “but that’s just my opinion.”
Goldberg, however, could not keep it together. “It’s insulting! It’s insulting!” she exclaimed. “Lindsey Graham should be ashamed of himself to say something like that in the middle of all of this.”
It’s a wonder that any conservatives agree to appear on “The View” at all when the hosts behave in such a classless manner as this, as Goldberg and her fellow liberal co-hosts can’t stand it when a conservative guest expresses views that are different their own.
Good for Gingrich for being able to keep his cool and take the high road in the face of Goldberg’s disrespect. Few people would have been able to handle this as well a he did!
This piece was written by Andrew Spalding on March 27, 2020. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.
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