The women of The View are sick and tired of people picking on Hillary Clinton. On Thursday’s episode the entire cast of Whoopi Goldberg, Jenny McCarthy, Sherri Shepherd and guest host Roseanne Barr all took turns defending the former First Lady from Monica Lewinsky, Rand Paul and Vladimir Putin.
Whoopi Goldberg, setting up the segment, noted Clinton was asked about Lewinsky in her People magazine interview and then complained that Clinton can’t get away from the Lewinsky questions: “My God! Rand Paul has brought it up everyday this year.”
McCarthy thought the Lewinsky questions were “awful” and “unfortunate” and demanded “we’re saying it’s to be done.”
Barr, of course, made a crass remark about how it was all “a tough nut to swallow” and then insisted: “They’re putting her in her place is what they’re doing. And they’re trying to degrade her and put her in her place....‘You’re a woman and you’re not as good.’”
Finally, Shepherd came to Clinton’s defense against Vladimir Putin. After McCarthy recited a quote calling Clinton “weak,” Shepherd asserted: “Out of anything you would use to describe Hillary Clinton I really think ‘weak’ would not be one of them! Not at all!”
The following exchange occurred on the June 5 edition of ABC’s The View:
WHOOPI GOLDBERG: How about this! Hillary Clinton was asked recently about Monica Lewinsky during an interview with People magazine. But she shut it down very quickly, saying she’s not going to comment on what did or didn’t happen. “I think everybody needs to look to the future.” You know if she decides-
[APPLAUSE]
GOLDBERG: -if she decides to run for president - I mean my God, Rand Paul has brought it up everyday this year. So I mean this is going to be happening and happening. Do you think-
SHERRI SHEPHERD: I love, I love that Hillary Clinton is like: “You can ask me about my personal business but I don’t have to tell you about my personal business!”
JENNY MCCARTHY: It’s just awful though that - you know they’re going to do it, though. And it’s just unfortunate.
SHEPHERD: You know what? There’s so much more to focus on with Hillary Clinton. It’s something that happened so long ago. Just because Monica Lewinsky decided to bring it back up and talk about it does not mean that Hillary Clinton has to. She has done what she’s done. She stayed with her husband and she’s moved on.
ROSEANNE BARR: It’s a tough nut to swallow. I mean, I don’t blame her because she-
[LAUGHTER]
SHEPHERD: And she’s here! And she’s here!
[APPLAUSE]
GOLDBERG: Another thing that kind of flips me out, why is she responsible for what her husband did?
MCCARTHY: Exactly! It’s not fair!
GOLDBERG: I mean when they’re asking questions, it’s they’re saying what didn’t you do? I don’t think that’s on her!
BARR: They’re putting her in her place is what they’re doing. And they’re trying to degrade her and put her in her place.
GOLDBERG: Yeah! They’re trying to.
SHEPHERD: Because a lot of people want to know, because they want to know “what is your reaction? How did you feel?”
MCCARTHY: But now, but now we’re saying it’s to be done.
BARR: Remember when Bill Clinton had that gouged out face, that’s what she thought of it. Remember that?
GOLDBERG: Yeah. Yeah.
MCCARTHY: The way she handled it I thought she said it perfectly and I hope everyone respects her and let her do her thing which is worry about the country.
GOLDBERG: They’re going to keep bringing it up. I just don’t understand why they’re bringing it up with her? I mean bring up her stuff. Bring up stuff that you’re curious - but people if they want to know, it’s in her book! She wrote it! Yes!
BARR: Whoopi! Whoopi! It’s also saying, “You’re a woman and you’re not as good.” That’s what it’s saying, I think.
GOLDBERG: Yeah. Yeah.
MCCARTHY: There was also this thing with Putin. You know Hillary comments that Putin was trying to restructure Europe like Hitler did in the ‘30s. And Putin said he found her comments “extreme,” adding “when people push boundaries too far, it’s not because they are strong, it’s because they are weak.” We get it. You don’t like her and you don’t like pantsuits.
SHEPHERD: Out of anything you would use to describe Hillary Clinton I really think “weak” would not be one of them! Not at all!
— Geoffrey Dickens is Deputy Research Director at the Media Research Center. Follow Geoffrey Dickens on Twitter. [1]