Former President Donald Trump has lashed out at The View moderator Whoopi Goldberg in response to a doctored meme that portrayed her as saying she was moving to Canada "for sure this time."
Oscar-winning Ghost star Goldberg has publicly criticized the former president for a number of years. When Trump made an appearance on The View in 2011, Goldberg told him that the "birther" conspiracy theory he was spreading at the time about then-President Barack Obama was "the biggest pile of dog mess."
Years later, as Republican Trump ramped up his ultimately successful 2016 White House run, Goldberg said that she had questions about remaining in the U.S. if the former star of The Apprentice was elected into office. At the time, Trump sparked furor when he described Mexican immigrants as rapists and drug dealers.
Over the years, erroneous social-media posts have been shared depicting Goldberg as having declared her outright intentions to move to Canada over Trump.
On Sunday night, one such post was shared on Trump's Truth Social platform, showing an image of Goldberg that had been edited to make her look larger. The image included the caption: "I'm moving to Canada for sure this time!"
It has been posted on other social-media platforms over the years, and was sent by a Truth Social user to Trump. He responded: "Canada doesn't want you Whoopi, NOBODY DOES!!!"
Newsweek has contacted representatives of Goldberg and Trump via email for comment.
Days after Trump was elected in November 2016, Goldberg clarified her position on remaining in the country during an episode of ABC's The View.
"A lot of folks have said they were leaving over the course of these last couple years if Trump got elected. And, once again, people assume that that's what I [said]," Goldberg said, adding that she was "incorrectly lumped" in with such people.
"So, this is gonna be the second time I'm clearing this up," Goldberg said. "So, here's a clip of me reading the transcript of exactly what I said the first time."
A clip of Goldberg on an episode of The View from March 1, 2016, was then played, in which she quoted herself as previously saying: "You start pointing and saying, 'This person's a rapist and a murderer;' it p***** me off, because I've been part of when they just use blanket statements about Black people, or when they use blanket statements to talk about white people or women or any other group.
"I don't think that's America. I don't want it to be America. Maybe it's time for me to move," Goldberg added, reading out her previous statement.
"Now see, if you want to be mad at me, you want to make jokes, get your facts straight," Goldberg said in the March 2016 episode as she ripped up her cue card.
"Just to be clear, I wouldn't leave this country for him to p*** all over, for any reason. I've been here since the late 1700s," she added.
Speaking in November 2016, Goldberg again said that she was "not leaving the country that I was born and raised in. My family spent years trying to get the vote, and trying to do all the things that we as Americans are allowed to do.
"We're allowed to protest. We're allowed to stand up and say we disagree. Whether we agree or not, it's OK. But you don't get to get to tell me that I'm going. You don't get to make that decision for me. I'm staying!"
As presumptive GOP presidential nominee Trump vies for a second term in an expected matchup with President Joe Biden, Goldberg has continued to criticize him.
Speaking on The View in January 2024 with former Representative Liz Cheney, a Wyoming Republican who is also a critic of Trump, Goldberg said: "If [Trump] ever gets in again, we'll never have anymore elections—there will be no more. He will stop it, and he's very clear about that. He wants to be dictator for life."
fairness meter
About the writer
Ryan Smith is a Newsweek Senior Pop Culture and Entertainment Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on ... Read more
