Whoopi Goldberg’s On-Air Antics

This week on ABC’s live broadcast of The View, Whoopi Goldberg playfully referenced a legal correction memo, jokingly implying that former President Donald Trump might have used an autopen to pardon Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao.

In a recent interview on 60 Minutes, Trump mentioned he wasn’t quite sure when he had issued the pardon for Zhao, who had pled guilty to anti-money laundering violations in 2023. At the time, the government claimed that Zhao’s actions posed a substantial risk to U.S. national security by enabling terrorist organizations like Hamas to move large sums of money.

Host Norah O’Donnell asked, “Why was he pardoned?” Trump responded ambiguously, “I’m not even sure who he is. I think he got a four-month sentence, and I’ve heard it was a Biden witch hunt.”

On The View, co-host Sunny Hostin pointed out that former President Biden had used an autopen for pardons, humorously suggesting that Trump did the same. Hostin asked incredulously, “How do you not know who this person is?” to which Goldberg retorted, “Because he used an autopen.”

Later in the episode, Hostin handed Goldberg a note to read. Confused, Goldberg reacted with, “What the hell? What?” before reading that there was uncertainty whether Trump actually used an autopen for his pardon.

Goldberg exclaimed in disbelief, “You’re kidding!” and promptly tore the note into pieces. She later expressed frustration about the difficulty of her role, saying, “The toughest part right now is that no one seems to grasp the nuances.” She continued, “If I’m joking, you’ll know that. This is just absurd.”

Reportedly, the note passed to Goldberg was sourced directly from the production team of the show.