Co-host, Whoopi Goldberg, who traditionally doesn’t appear on the show on Friday’s, even came in on her day off to weigh in on the news.
The women of The View are sharing their reaction to the guilty verdict in the Donald Trump hush money trial.
The show filmed a special live episode Friday morning where they discussed the news, with Whoopi Goldberg, who traditionally takes Fridays off from her co-hosting duties, joining the panel to kick off the show with a very important statement: “Donald John Trump is a convicted felon.”
“Yes, I’m here on a Friday, because this is a very unique moment in history,” Goldberg began. “That’s why we’re all at the table.”
“Yesterday a New York jury found him guilty on all 34 counts on falsifying business records to hide a sex scandal that would hurt his 2016 presidential campaign,” she added.
TRUMP GUILTY ON 34 FELONY COUNTS: #WhoopiGoldberg, @JoyVBehar, @sarahaines, @Sunny, @Alyssafarah and @ananavarro react to a New York jury finding the former president guilty of falsifying business records in order to hide a sex scandal that would hurt his 2016 campaign. pic.twitter.com/O9EfhijCPc
— The View (@TheView) May 31, 2024
While Trump claimed that the trial was “rigged,” and that this was done by President Joe Biden, Goldberg was quick to set the record straight for both the studio audience and viewers at home.
“He was in that courtroom because of what he did. And those jurors were chosen by both sides,” Goldberg maintained. “This was not a Biden thing. Had he just paid the money, he would have been fine. … Instead, he was cheap, and that’s what you get!”
Goldberg wasn’t the only one to celebrating Trump’s guilty verdict. One of the show’s most vocal anti-Trump co-hosts, Joy Behar, said she was so “excited” when she heard the news, that she almost peed her pants while shopping at Costco.
“I was at Costco buying 10 boxes of Keurig coffee. My watch started to buzz, and I got so excited, I started leaking a little bit,” Behar quipped.
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Hollywood Reacts After Donald Trump Found Guilty in Hush Money Trial
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Ana Navarro also celebrated the verdict, as well as Sunny Hostin, who said it felt like the New York Nicks won a championship ring.
“I didn’t feel somber. I felt like the Nicks won the tournament. I felt like America won. I felt like New York won. I felt like the Manhattan D.A.’s office won. I felt like I won,” Hostin boasted. “This jury took nine hours to come back, which some people think that’s a really long time. It actually is not because he was facing 34 counts. And to your point, this was an easy case, because this was about trying to win an election by hiding an affair.”
.@Sunny Hostin weighs in on former Pres. Trump’s guilty verdict: “I felt like America won.” pic.twitter.com/2xFmd4paHB
— The View (@TheView) May 31, 2024
Alyssa Farah Griffin, meanwhile, who previously worked as the White House’s director of strategic communications under Trump, admitted that she was “shocked” over the verdict, even though in some ways, she expected it.
“My first thought was that I feared for the safety of the judge and the jury,” Griffin said, a sentiment co-host Sara Haines seconded. “We live in a moment of violent political rhetoric. Knowing Donald Trump, there’s something in him that thinks he’s untouchable. I don’t think he thought it was going to come down this way.”
She added that “there is a world in which he could get away with this,” noting that Trump could be re-elected “before this is all adjudicated.”
Warning Americans to “buckle up,” Griffin noted that keeping himself out of prison will be a “hell of a motivator” for Trump as he gears up for his next presidential campaign.
.@AlyssaFarah reacts to former Pres. Trump’s guilty verdict: “Buckle up because it’s rage and retribution ahead.” pic.twitter.com/mvwH3bXgxI
— The View (@TheView) May 31, 2024
Their reaction comes after Trump was found guilty on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, all of it to do with the $130,000 payout through his then-attorney Michael Cohen to former adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Trump was the the first former U.S. president to be charged with a crime, and now is the first to be convicted. Sentencing is set for 10 a.m. on July 11, just four days before the Republican National Convention.
