Whoopi Goldberg Takes Aim At Trump With An Ominous Warning
Whoopi Goldberg and President Donald Trump don't particularly like each other, and they've made that very clear. Goldberg has bashed Trump for much of his presidency, but the disdain for each other was showcased even prior to Trump's 2017 inauguration. In 2016, Trump took to his controversial Twitter account to disparage the actress. "The @TheView @ABC, once great when headed by @BarbaraJWalters, is now in total freefall. Whoopi Goldberg is terrible. Very sad!" he wrote seemingly in response to Goldberg's criticism of him on The View.
Years later, Goldberg hasn't given up on sharing her opinions of Trump on The View. In November 2020, she likened his post-election behavior to that of a "dictator" and slammed him for the rising number of COVID-19 cases. "He lost this election, and because he lost, all those people who now have the virus who don't make it from now until January 20th, this blood is on his hands, because this isn't like he's sitting around thinking 'how can I help?' He's sitting around doing nothing," she said. Following the 2020 presidential election, Goldberg also went after Trump supporters and told them to "suck it up" as they accused voters of election fraud.
The View co-host clearly is not afraid to speak her mind, and now she has taken aim at Trump with an ominous warning.
Whoopi Goldberg says Donald Trump is going to jail
On the Dec. 1, 2020, episode of The View, the co-hosts were virtually discussing whispers that Donald Trump's campaign plans to enter the 2024 presidential race. Whoopi Goldberg didn't seem bothered by the thought because she is certain Trump will be behind bars within the next four years. "Letitia James is waiting with her little foot, she is patting that foot, waiting for him to take a step out," she began. "Because he keeps saying he's going to run in 2024. You're not going to run if you're in jail my friend, and that is something you must also think of. I'm just saying."
James is the Attorney General of New York and is expected to pursue Trump legally when he leaves office. "Regardless of whether or not an individual sits in a particular office is really irrelevant to our investigation," she told Spectrum News in November 2020. "Our investigation will continue because no one is above the law."
Goldberg also confessed that the thought of Trump pardoning himself is "exciting," because she believes the law will still catch up to him. "There are all these people waiting," she noted. That idea pulled the co-hosts into a debate about the legality of Trump pardoning himself. So can it be done?
Trump can be pardoned, but he can't pardon himself
On the Nov. 30, 2020, episode of his radio show, Fox news anchor Sean Hannity proposed that President Donald Trump pardon himself before he leaves office in 2021. "The president out the door needs to pardon his whole family and himself, because they want this witch hunt to go on in perpetuity," he said (via Daily Mail). "I mean, I assume that the power of the pardon is absolute, and that he should be able to pardon anybody that he wants to?" Hannity asked guest Sidney Powell.
Hannity assumed wrong. In 1974, The U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Legal Council determined that "the President cannot pardon himself." However, there is a loophole Trump can use if he becomes worried about criminal charges he may face once he leaves the White House. Matthew Dallek, Ph.D, a professor at George Washington University's Graduate School of Political Management, told Elite Daily that Vice President Mike Pence can gain the power to pardon Trump, but only if Trump resigns before the end of his term, therefore making Pence president.
As Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar mentioned on The View, they saw this happen with President Richard Nixon in 1974 when he was pardoned by successor Gerald Ford after resigning due to his involvement in the Watergate scandal. Trump would not be able to take this route if he plans to run in 2024. Trump is well aware of his power of pardon, though, and he used it.
Trump has pardoned many people during his presidency
According to the Justice Department, President Donald Trump has pardoned dozens of people during his presidency. He has also commuted, or reduced, the sentences of 11 people. Notably, Trump pardoned his former national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, in November 2020, "who twice pleaded guilty to lying to the F.B.I. about his conversations with a Russian diploma," per The New York Times.
Perhaps the most infamous talk of a pardon, though, happened in 2020 after the show Tiger King took the world by storm. As of this writing, the show's star, Joe Exotic, is serving a 22-year prison sentence after trying to have his nemesis, Carole Baskin, killed in a murder-for-hire plot, as well as for selling cubs and killing five tigers. Exotic's legal team allegedly traveled to Washington, D.C. with a 257-page document proving his innocence in hopes that Trump would grant a pardon. At this point, Exotic is still behind bars, but there is still time to fulfill his request.
Likewise, there is still time for Trump to make a decision about resigning from office in hopes of protecting his family — only time will tell.