Sophia Bush joined The View hosts in criticizing President Donald Trump during her guest-host stint on the talk show.
The One Tree Hill alum filled in for Joy Behar and Ana Navarro during the Thursday, June 11, episode, which kicked off with the hosts raving about the New York Knicks’ win against the San Antonio Spurs in Game 4 of the NBA Finals the night before.
“I wish I was there. I was asking you this morning if you stayed,” Bush said to Whoopi Goldberg, who was in attendance at the game. “I stayed up at the hotel. I told myself I was gonna go to bed early, you guys. I’m a guest here. I had homework to do. I was at the foot of the bed, screaming at the TV like a psychopath.”
Goldberg went on to “properly” introduce Bush as the day’s guest host, adding, “You ready to have some interesting conversation?” She replied, “Oh, I’ve been ready for this my whole life. I used to get into it with my mom. I would tell her nothing good happened leading up to the closing bell of school at elementary school. I was like, ‘They’re not teaching us anything, anyway. Pick me up early so I can sit down and watch Oprah. That’s my next class.’ And my mom was like, ‘You’re 8. What are you talking about?’ I have been waiting for this desk my whole life.”
For their first hot topic, the hosts reacted to recent comments made about the inflation caused by the war in Iran. “I love the inflation. You know why? Because as soon as this war is over — you know, I can say it now, something you didn’t know. Do you know we’ve been taking out millions of barrels of oil? Nobody knows it. You know who doesn’t know about it? Iran, until right now,” he said in a clip aired on the show.
ABC
In reaction, Goldberg stated, “He tried to walk it back. He tried to clarify things after saying that he loved that inflation numbers were lower than expected. Has he been outside to talk to people? Does he know what’s going on?”
Alyssa Farah Griffin joked that the soundbite will likely be used in upcoming Democratic campaign ads. “The economic stats are unbelievable right now. People are really hurting,” she said.
Bush weighed in, stating, “It also just feels tone-deaf for a guy that got handed $400 million by his daddy for doing nothing to say that in a country where the average American can’t afford an unexpected $400 medical bill for themselves or their children without risking bankruptcy? Who are you to say that the pockets of the American people are not your highest priority as the president?”
Later in the discussion, Griffin joked that Trump seems “more interested in home renovation than being president right now,” adding, “It’s like, ‘We’re building the ballroom. We’re painting the reflecting pool. We’re gilding the White House.’ And it feels so detached from the reality of so many Americans right now who are just struggling to make ends meet.”
Bush noted that it’s difficult for people to put themselves in the shoes of a “billionaire president.” She said, “This man has profited, some estimates say, $4 billion since he took office, while Americans can’t afford gas? C’mon, y’all! He’s selling meme coins? No. We should’ve given this man an HGTV show and said, ‘Go renovate the ballrooms and leave the rest of us alone.’”
Goldberg wrapped up the discussion by declaring that American taxpayers are not a “wallet,” stating, “We are, every one of us, working our tails off, we’re taking care of our families, we’re trying to get everything done that we can get done for our families safely and well, you keep coming to us for not smart stuff, for ballrooms. I don’t have a ballroom. You don’t have a ballroom. Nobody in this room — I don’t think — has a ballroom.”
She continued, “None of these folks are making over their reflecting pools and building giant arches in their backyards. They’re trying to feed their families. They’re trying to put gas in the car. They’re trying to get to work. But you keep cutting jobs and getting mad that there’s not enough people to do stuff. You’ve got to go! It’s time! And I say that with all due respect. A lot of people put all their hopes and dreams in you, and now, their hopes and dreams have taken the backseat to insane stuff for this country.”
The View, Weekdays, 11a/10c, ABC