The cohosts of The View were fired up about several “Hot Topics” at the start of Monday’s (May 11) show, including the most recent developments in various states’ gerrymandering efforts and the transportation secretary’s seven-month road trip for a reality show. The one that really got them going, though, was the subject of Donald Trump‘s new golden statue at his Miami, Florida, golf course, which was seen during the Cadillac Championship at Doral Golf Course and was presented by a pastor.
After reviewing footage of that pastor defending his support of the statue in the face of complaints that it is like the Biblical “golden calf,” the panelists weighed in.
“I actually don’t know who that statue’s of,” Ana Navarro joked. “It’s a skinny guy with a tight neck.”
She then, on a more serious note, said, “This statue went up in his golf course in Miami-Dade golf course, Doral, and look, I think he can do whatever the hell he wants in his private property. He wants to put a giant penis in there, go ahead and do it. The problem here is, again, the conflict of interest is getting paid by some crypto donor, an industry that has benefited tremendously from the deregulation or lack thereof of this administration. It’s also a little weird, and again, at a time when Americans are going through so much, and then it gives like wannabe dictator, small dictator energy. Kim Jong Un in North Korea does this. Saddam Hussein in Iraq, there were statues over him, Joseph Stalin… This is not what we do in America.”
Moderator Whoopi Goldberg then pointed out, “I told you, there are posters of him throughout Washington, giant banners of his face, the dictator.”
Sara Haines then jumped in with a note that made her burst with laughter: “Robert Jeffress is the one that says President Trump has a better understanding of what the Bible teaches than the pope,” she said through giggles.
“What’s happening?!” Goldberg exclaimed.
“Are they getting something out of it?” Sunny Hostin then wondered aloud. “That’s a real tacky statue. I mean, we know he’s very tacky. He’s got a gold toilet and everything, so he’s just a tacky dude. But, like, what is the pastor getting out it?”
Alyssa Farah Griffin thought the very fact that people are asking is sign enough that it’s problematic. “I’m not a biblical scholar, but I do think we know the story of the golden calf. If you have to say, ‘It’s not a golden calf,’ you’re probably going a little too close to idolatry.”
Goldberg then issued a message to Jeffress, saying, “Any pastor who thinks that there is a balance between our president and the pope in terms of knowledge, I have to question your knowledge. Pastor Jeffress, I don’t know you. You don’t know me. But I know you are wrong.”
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