“Real Time” host Bill Maher took aim at The View and its co-host Whoopi Goldberg during his Friday night show, saying Democrats need to “do something” about the program following Goldberg’s controversial remarks comparing life for Black Americans to life under Iran’s authoritarian regime.
Maher praised The New York Times for taking what he called a more “sensible liberal” approach to transgender issues and said the next step for Democrats is addressing inflammatory rhetoric from within their own media circles.
Goldberg drew backlash earlier in the week during a debate with co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin, who was outlining Iran’s human rights abuses — including executions of LGBTQ+ individuals and the imprisonment of women for not covering their hair.
In response, Goldberg said, “Let’s not do that, because if we start with that, we have been known in this country to tie gay folks to the car. Listen, I’m sorry, they used to just keep hanging Black people.”
Griffin pushed back, arguing that the situations are not equivalent.
Texas Rep. Wesley Hunt, a Republican and guest on Maher’s show, strongly rejected Goldberg’s comments. “My district is majority white, and President Trump won it by 25 points,” said Hunt, who is Black. “I am a direct descendant of a slave — my great-great-grandfather was born on Rosedown Plantation. Today, I’m a U.S. congressman representing that district. That’s America.”
Hunt emphasized that he’s been judged “by the content of my character” rather than the color of his skin, crediting the U.S. for making that progress. “So I don’t ever want to hear Whoopi Goldberg’s conversation about how it’s worse to be Black in America right now,” he added.
He also pointed out that his father, who lived through Jim Crow laws, now sees his son serve in Congress — elected by a largely white constituency. “That’s the American story,” Hunt said.
Later in the conversation, CNN contributor Paul Begala raised a question about Juneteenth, asking why former President Trump doesn’t embrace the holiday. Hunt responded, “I don’t want Black History Month. I don’t want all these days to make people feel special. We’re all Americans. I’m an ’80s baby — everybody’s too sensitive anyway.”
