Whoopi Goldberg calls Tim Scott ‘Looney Tune’ for denying systemic racism

“The View” co-host Whoopi Goldberg called Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., a “Looney Tune” on Wednesday for denying systemic racism as the hosts piled on attacks against the GOP senator.

The co-hosts were joined by author Clay Cane, who recently released a book titled, “The Grift: The Downward Spiral of Black Republicans.” Cane reminded the co-hosts of Scott’s appearance on the show and said, “Let’s not forget, he voted against The Voting Rights Act, gutted the George Floyd Policing Act, and came on this very show and denied systemic racism.”

Co-host Sunny Hostin said he “insulted” her during his appearance on the show. The co-hosts of “The View” have repeatedly attacked the GOP senator over his beliefs as a Black Republican and, most recently, his engagement, which critics have suggested was part of a ploy to become former President Trump’s running mate.

“Well, I was here, too,” Goldberg added. “He was a Looney Tune.”

“The View” co-host Whoopi Goldberg said Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., was a “Looney Tune” for denying systemic racism. (Screenshot/ABC/TheView)

Co-host Joy Behar, who once compared Scott to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and said he “doesn’t get” racism, argued that it was hard to watch the senator speaking at Trump’s rallies.

“It was horrible to watch, to tell you the truth, to see a strong Black man grovel like that. I didn’t like it at all,” she said, before asking Cane, “What happened to him?”

Cane claimed Scott existed before and after the “Trump era” and “has gone full-blown down grifter road.”

Behar said Scott was “desperate” for power.

Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., speaks in front of President Donald Trump during a campaign rally in North Charleston, South Carolina, on Feb. 28, 2020. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

“What’s sad about Tim Scott is that I think he knows that if he called out the bigotry in his own party versus endorsing a bigot for president, he knows they would throw him out faster than Liz Cheney,” Cane said.

“It’s pathetic to watch,” Behar continued, noting Scott recently got engaged. “That’s because he wants the job as VP, right? So the engagement was a good way to say, ‘Hey, I’m going to be married. I’m going to be legit. I can be a vice president to Trump.’”

Scott joined the hosts of “The View” in 2023 after he announced his presidential bid. Scott dropped out of the race early on in the cycle and endorsed Trump earlier this month.

Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., joined the hosts of “The View” on June 5, 2023. (Screenshot/ABC/TheView)

“One of the reasons why I’m on the show is because of the comments that were made frankly on this show that the only way for a young African-American kid to be successful in this country is to be the exception and not the rule. That’s a dangerous, offensive, disgusting message to send to our young people today that the only way to succeed is by being the exception,” Scott said at the time.

Scott touted African-American success in the U.S., citing a record low unemployment rate for the African-American community.

“Progress in America is palpable, it can be measured in generations. I look back at the fact that my grandfather, born in 1921 in Salley, South Carolina, when he was on a sidewalk, a White person was coming — he had to step off and not make eye contact. That man believed then, with some doubt now, in the goodness of America, because he believed that faith in God, faith in himself, and faith in what the future could hold for his kids, would unleash opportunities in ways that you cannot imagine,” Scott continued. “So, what I’m suggesting is that yesterday’s exception is today’s rule.”