Whoopi Goldberg stood on opposite sides of Abby Huntsman on “The View” this week after the conservative co-host argued moderate voters would throw their support behind President Donald Trump if Democrats leaned too far left.
On Wednesday, the panelists, joined by guest host Chelsea Clinton, discussed Tuesday night’s Democratic presidential debate in Westerville, Ohio. Most of the panel agreed that Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) was the leader of the pack, but Huntsman also piled on the praise for South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg.
“Mayor Pete, who I’ve liked from the beginning, but I thought last night was his best performance yet,” she said of the candidate. “He came out swinging. He’s in that moderate lane — (Sen. Amy) Klobuchar is there but (Joe) Biden also — but he delivers what Biden is saying, I think, so much better.”
Huntsman further mentioned the millions of dollars Buttigieg’s fundraising has brought in for his campaign, to which veteran co-host Goldberg argued doesn’t mean much if there’s no solid plan in place.
“But does he have a plan?” she asked, arguing that “money speaks but B.S. walks. Just because you have the money doesn’t mean you have the plan.”
The two briefly sparred over the strength of Buttigieg’s policy platform, positions Huntsman said were more satisfactory to moderate American voters.
“What I like about him is he says, let’s live in reality,” Huntsman said. “If you want to win this election, you have to give people a choice.”
The Fox News alum brought up a moment during Tuesday’s debate when Buttgieg challenged former congressman Beto O’Rourke’s plan for tougher gun control, which called for the confiscation of assault-style weapons.
“He said, this is a purity test,” Hunstman recalled. “That is never going to pass, so let’s live in reality. Once again, I think that’s the way to beat Trump. If you go so far to left and say, we’re going to live in this world that’s never going to exist, you’re not going to get people in the middle. They’re going to have no option but to maybe vote for Trump again. That’s what’s going to happen.”
Goldberg still wasn’t won over, however.
“If that’s the only option for people in the middle, that’s not the middle,” Goldberg replied. “That’s not the middle if that’s the only option.”
Watch more in the video below.
