Co-host of “The View,” Whoopi Goldberg, recently sparked backlash on social media after she appeared to make a joke in poor taste about JD Vance and Elon Musk colluding to assassinate President-elect Donald Trump.  Particularly after two failed assassination attempts against Trump along with years of being vilified by Democrats and the mainstream media, many voiced critical opinions toward the nature of the comment.

The argument pertained to a discussion on the panel where the co-hosts speculated about the power dynamics within the incoming administration.  “Who is in charge? Because I’ve been saying it for a while. I’ve been saying it—I think Elon Musk believes he’s president. I do,” Goldberg said on the daytime talk show last week.

She continued, “I’ve called him vice president, I’ve called him president because I don’t know what JD is doing. I don’t remember the last time we even talked about JD.” Goldberg then delivered a quip, suggesting that Musk and Vance may join together against Trump. “Hey, you know who [Trump]; stay away from the stairways. Because, you know, people put their leg out to trip you going down the stairs. Watch out,” she said.

Footage of Goldberg’s controversial remark quickly spread across social media, leading to substantial pushback. Sharing the clip on X, conservative influencer Paul A. Szypula wrote, “Whoopi Goldberg just joked about Musk and Vance ass*ss*nating President Trump by making him fall down the stairs.  ABC needs to fire Whoopi. This is unforgivable.”

Referencing the recent defamation lawsuit between Trump and ABC anchor George Stephanopoulos, another person wrote, “Whoopi better tread lightly with those ‘jokes’ — one wrong step and she’ll be writing Trump a $15M check and following Georgie boy out the ABC exit door. Careful, Whoopi… those stairs can be real slippery. ”

However, after the show came back from a commercial break, Goldberg delivered a clarifying statement, indicating she wished no harm to President Trump. “Okay, I need to clean something up, because my cat lays in wait for me on my stairs all the time, and that’s what I was I was thinking of that I wasn’t trying to indicate that they were actually standing there with their legs out, hoping he would trip,” she said.

Sunny Hostin chimed in, “Nobody wants anything bad to happen to the president.” Goldberg added, “No, it was light-hearted, and it’s the holidays. Come on! My goodness.” Hostin said, “You did not mean that anybody should hurt the president.” Goldberg further stated, “No, okay, you know the thing about this show, there is no way not to step in poop. There’s no way to do it. There’s no way not to do it. So, for all of you who are waiting and saying oh my God, listen to what you said, I got a cat who does it to me every day. And that’s what sparked it.”

Watch the clip of Goldberg’s controversial joke below: