Whoopi Goldberg is no fan of President-elect Donald Trump, but she supports Carrie Underwood’s decision to perform at his inauguration.
The hosts of “The View” weighed in Tuesday on Underwood’s announcement that she will sing “America the Beautiful” next week before Trump is sworn into office for his second term. While Underwood sparked backlash among some Trump critics, Goldberg defended the “American Idol” star.
“I stand behind her,” she said. “If I believe I have the right to make up my mind to go perform someplace, I believe they have the same right. So I have to support (her). It doesn’t mean I’m particularly interested in watching. I won’t be watching. But that’s me.”
The EGOT winner compared the situation to “Morning Joe” hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski controversially meeting with Trump after his election win, which also sparked backlash among fans. But Goldberg argued that like Underwood, the MSNBC hosts did what they felt “they needed to do, and I’ve got to stand behind them.”
Carrie Underwood to perform ‘America the Beautiful’ at Trump inauguration
Not all of Goldberg’s co-hosts were as sympathetic, though. Joy Behar said she would “not normalize” Trump by singing at his inauguration, and Sunny Hostin agreed that if she were a singer, she would give a “hard no” to the performance invite.
Still, Behar added she would “not be the person” to tell someone else not to perform at the inauguration because she believes “in free speech,” and Hostin concurred that artists have a “right to perform where (they) want to perform.”
Alyssa Farah Griffin, meanwhile, said she hopes that “we’re moving beyond the era of politics where we want to cancel people’s livelihoods because we don’t like their politics,” and if people have a problem with Underwood’s decision, they can “register your complaint by not downloading her songs and not going to her shows.”
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Still, Griffin speculated the inauguration performance might make business sense for Underwood, who will now become an “icon of MAGA and the American right” and is “probably going to make a lot of money off of it.”
In a statement on Monday, Underwood said, “I love our country and am honored to have been asked to sing at the Inauguration and to be a small part of this historic event. I am humbled to answer the call at a time when we must all come together in the spirit of unity and looking to the future.”
Behar criticized this statement from Underwood, asking, “How do you love your country and support and normalize somebody who was a convicted felon, who really wants to destroy the country, in my opinion?”
The Village People also said in a Facebook post Monday that they will participate in inauguration events, telling fans, “We know this wont make some of you happy to hear however we believe that music is to be performed without regard to politics.” They added that their song “Y.M.C.A” is “a global anthem that hopefully helps bring the country together after a tumultuous and divided campaign where our preferred candidate lost.”
