There was a time, many decades ago, when Whoopi Goldberg was considered a comedian.
Now Goldberg is better known as a would-be censor, looking to stifle the spontaneity and surprise that make genuine humor possible.
When the audience of the show “The View” showed mild amusement Tuesday at a recounting of a joke told by former Vice President Mike Pence, co-host Goldberg had to stop the fun with a sour scolding. She tried to browbeat the audience by saying the joke was not funny, implying it was a dud because Republicans said it.
WATCH: Whoopi Goldberg frustrated after retelling joke Mike Pence made about Buttigieg’s ‘maternity leave.’ Says it’s ‘NOT FUNNY’ as the audience bursts into laughter.
WHOOPI: “This joke wasn’t funny when @TuckerCarlson did it…It’s just NOT funny. It’s just NOT a funny joke!” pic.twitter.com/kN9uToOW1Q
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) March 14, 2023
“Pence claimed Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg took two months of, quote, ‘maternity leave,’ during the nationwide airline crisis, Which makes Pete the only person in human history to have a child, and everyone else gets postpartum depression,” Goldberg said.
“Now, I will point out, this joke wasn’t funny when Tucker Carlson did it, it wasn’t funny when Lauren Boebert did it, it’s just not funny. It’s just not a funny joke.”
Pence, who is reportedly considering a run for the Republican nomination next year, told the joke Saturday at the annual Gridiron Club Dinner in Washington, a gathering of politicians and Washington media figures where major names are expected to make fun of their rivals — and themselves. (Pence joked about his own rumored presidential ambitions, according to The New York Times.)
The real problem for Goldberg is not that the joke isn’t funny. It was amusing enough that a portion of her audience audibly laughed.
Her problem is that not only is the joke funny enough for a political quip, it lands a direct hit on the negligence of the Biden administration’s secretary of transportation, a former contender for the Democratic presidential nomination who is all but certain to try for the presidency again. Goldberg wanted to shut down the accurate ridicule because it made Democrats look bad.
Before Buttigieg bungled the toxic East Palestine train derailment in February 2023, he shirked his transportation oversight duties during the supply chain crisis in 2021 and airline crisis in 2022.
Buttigieg quietly took two months of paid paternity leave in 2021 when the economy was being crippled by transportation problems.
Admittedly, Pence toyed with the timeline to earn his punchline, as the airlines melted down long after the transportation secretary’s paternity leave. Still, the point was well taken: In difficult times, Buttigieg is AWOL.
Naturally, President Joe Biden’s White House attacked Pence for being “homophobic,” and demanded an apology. The demand specifically referred to Pence’s reference to “postpartum depression” — a physical affliction that affects some women who have given birth. But it likely was spurred at least as much by Pence using the term “maternity leave” — the feminine version of “paternity leave.”
The coven of “The View” take themselves too seriously in general.
What they did not take seriously enough was when a well-known progressive icon called for the murder of pro-life supporters on their program.
On Friday, veteran actress and liberal activist Jane Fonda appeared on “The View” and openly discussed killing as a form of protest for the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
“I’ve thought of murder,” Hanoi Jane said, and clarified by repeating the word again: “Murder.”
Fonda’s threat has been referred to the Capitol Police by Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida.
The panel laughed at the time. “The View” co-host Joy Behar tried to give Fonda cover. “She’s just kidding,” Behar said.
Apparently, the murder of fellow citizens is “The View’s” idea of acceptable humor.
But a richly deserved jab at Pete Buttigieg isn’t?
Funny how that works.
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