Whoopi Goldberg set off a firestorm of outrage with her comments about the Holocaust on ABC’s The View on Monday. The longtime co-host claimed the Holocaust “isn’t about race,” adding, “it’s about man’s inhumanity to man.”
Media personalities piling on to condemn her have spanned the political spectrum, including Piers Morgan, Perez Hilton, and actor Michael Rapaport.
“WTF? This is insane. The extermination of 6 million Jews wasn’t about race???” Morgan tweeted.
Goldberg’s comments came as the hosts of The View spent part of Monday’s episode discussinng a Tennessee school board’s recent vote to remove a graphic novel about the Holocaust from an eighth grade language arts curriculum due to profanity and nudity.
“If you’re going to do this, then let’s be truthful about it because the Holocaust isn’t about race. No, it’s not about race,” Goldberg said.
Joy Behar replied: “Then what was it about?”
“It’s about man’s inhumanity to man,” Goldberg said. “That’s what it’s about.”
Ana Navarro chimed in: “Well, it’s about white supremacy. That’s what it’s about –it’s about going after Jews and gypsies.”
Whoopi Goldberg interrupted: “But you’re missing the point. The minute you turn it into race, it goes down this alley. Let’s talk about it for what it is. It’s how people treat each other. It’s a problem. It doesn’t matter if you’re black or white, because black, white, Jews … everybody eats each other.”
Will & Grace star Debre Messing called Goldberg’s comments “devastating and dangerous.”
.@WhoopiGoldberg You deeply hurt &offended me. By minimizing the horror of the Holocaust, the systematic annihilating of 6 MILLION Jews-which by the way IS a race-an attempted GENOCIDE to white on white crime? You “All Lives Matter,” -ed us. Devastating & dangerous.
— Debra Messing✍🏻 (@DebraMessing) February 1, 2022
Piers Morgan sounded off on Whoopi’s comments. “WTF? This is insane. The extermination of 6 million Jews wasn’t about race???” he tweeted Monday.
WTF? This is insane. The extermination of 6 million Jews wasn’t about race???
Will any rock stars or renegade royals now boycott Whoopi Goldberg and/or ABC for this dangerous misinformation? https://t.co/KWlYGp91o7— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) January 31, 2022
Hollywood gossip purveyor Perez Hilton said Whoopi just kept digging a hole for herself on Monday’s show.
I love Whoopi Goldberg, but this take of hers on the Nazis and the Holocaust is… not it. Her The View cohosts were trying to guide her out of this hole. She just dug in even deeper! 🤦♂️ pic.twitter.com/YKv1cSHdrS
— Perez (@ThePerezHilton) January 31, 2022
Actor Michael Rapaport demanded that Whoopi apologize.
YES #WhoopiGoldberg it was ALL & ONLY about RACE.
Apologize!!!! #NazisInFlorida @iamrapaport is LIVE now pic.twitter.com/RBDP40J1ME— MichaelRapaport (@MichaelRapaport) January 31, 2022
The Washington Examiner‘s Seth Mandel recommended Whoopi educate herself on the Holocaust.
"These are two white groups of people" hooooo boy that's some stuff. Some Holocaust education would do Whoopi a world of good. https://t.co/Or5wysipyV
— Seth Mandel (@SethAMandel) January 31, 2022
The Boston Globe‘s conservative columnist Jeff Jacoby tweeted that Whoopi’s “ignorance is scary.”
The Nazis were 𝘰𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 with race. Over & over, they declared Jews an inferior race polluting the Aryan master race. In 1939, Hitler declared that his goal if war came would be "the annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe."@WhoopiGoldberg's ignorance is scary. https://t.co/67DRjVFJYT
— Jeff Jacoby (@Jeff_Jacoby) January 31, 2022
The West Wing actor Joshua Malina tweeted, “In fairness to Whoopi, she is wrong.
In fairness to Whoopi, she is wrong. https://t.co/ZGpSoaY6sb
— (((Joshua Malina))) (@JoshMalina) January 31, 2022
Freelance writer Kyle Orton argued Whoopi’s focus on the skin color of Nazis and Jews was the truly offensive part of her argument.
One can't expect A1 history from Whoopi Goldberg and the point she's trying to make isn't sinister, but the claim she uses to make it is: "The Holocaust isn't about race. … It's about man's inhumanity to man. … [T]hese (the Nazis and the Jews) are two white groups of people." https://t.co/WNllsesb6h
— Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) January 31, 2022
The New York Post‘s Jon Levine also sounded off on Whoopi’s comments.
Whoopi Goldberg attempts to “All Lives Matter” … the Holocaust https://t.co/4Uf4BPh9wl
— Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) January 31, 2022
Story cited here.
