Whoopi Goldberg looked into the camera after the midterm elections and delivered a message to newly elected Democrats: "We put you in to take care of business." Not "voters put you in." Not "the American people chose you." We. As in the hosts of a daytime talk show on ABC.
She wasn't joking. She was taking credit.
The segment on The View opened with Goldberg announcing she "wanted to give the American people their flowers," then quickly pivoted to what the moment actually meant to her and her co-hosts. "We are sitting and smiling and celebrating as we are," she said. Then came the direct address: "A note to the Democrats. We put you in to take care of business. We were thrilled with your win. You are where you should be."
That's a campaign surrogate delivering a post-election victory speech on a network television show that ABC still classifies as news-adjacent programming.
Co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin — billed by ABC as the show's conservative voice — matched the energy from the other direction. "This was a total and complete repudiation of Donald Trump's presidency," Griffin declared, before adding: "As a resistance Republican who's been waiting for this moment, I am excited." A "resistance Republican" who celebrates Democratic victories and calls Trump's presidency repudiated. ABC's idea of balance.
Joy Behar and Ana Navarro joined the celebration. The panel discussed Democrats taking the House and Senate as though they had personally organized the ground game. The broadcast abandoned any remaining pretense of separating journalism from partisan activism.
The Federal Communications Commission requires broadcast licensees to operate in the public interest. ABC holds those licenses. The View airs on that license. And the host of that show just told elected officials — on air, to their faces — that her show is responsible for putting them in office.
Griffin's role is worth a second look. ABC hired her specifically to provide a Republican perspective. Her contribution to election night coverage was declaring herself a "resistance Republican" who'd been "waiting for this moment." That's the conservative chair on the most-watched daytime panel show in America. The seat exists so ABC can claim ideological diversity. Griffin used it to celebrate a Democratic wave.
Media organizations have spent years insisting there's a wall between their opinion programming and their activism. Goldberg didn't just breach that wall. She stood on the rubble and claimed the result as her own.
"You are where you should be." That's what Whoopi Goldberg told the Democrats ABC helped elect. On ABC's air. Using ABC's platform.