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Savannah Chrisley faced criticism on Thursday at The View for her strong defense of former President Donald Trump against accusations of racism.
Whoopi Goldberg highlighted that Trump has been accused of sending conflicting messages during Black History Month. She referenced a judge’s order for the Trump administration to reinstate a slavery exhibit removed from the Presidents House at Independence Mall in Philadelphia. Goldberg also mentioned a White House event on February 18 where Trump praised his relationship with the Black community.
A video clip from that event showed Trump referring to the late civil rights leader Jesse Jackson as “a piece of work” and admiring Nicki Minaj’s “beautiful” skin and “long” fingernails, which caused many of The View co-hosts to express discomfort.
“Oh God,” remarked Joy Behar with a scoff. “Her nails?”
Chrisley responded, “I get the rants. I understand them wholeheartedly.”
Behar added, “And they made fun of Joe Biden? Hello!”
Nonetheless, Chrisley proceeded to take to Trump’s defense.
“But I think, you know, when it comes to the event that happened yesterday, what’s so hard for me to witness is people stating that the president is a racist, because I’ve seen them firsthand,” she said.
Sunny Hostin immediately rejected Chrisley’s statement, telling the guest host, “He is a racist.”
While Chrisley attempted to explain that Trump “saved” the life of “one of [her] best friends” who is Black, Hostin wouldn’t have it.
“So he has a black friend? He’s a racist,” she said.
Goldberg raised the “problem” to Chrisley, pointing out why herself and others “have a different take on it” than the Chrisley Knows Best alum.
“Because when you target DEI programs with executive orders your first week in office, arguing that the policies undermine national unity, when you share racist posts about the Obama’s, when you pursued the death penalty for the Exonerated Five after you knew they had been exonerated,” she elaborated. “These are the reasons that his behavior is so hard.”
Goldberg also brought up how Trump was accused of discriminating against Black tenants in the ’70s, “because he wouldn’t rent to them.”
Chrisley asked, “Was that an accusation?”
While Goldberg told Chrisley “that was a proven fact” and that “they took him to court,” Hostin added that “the lawsuit was settled with the Justice Depatment.” Goldberg also sounded off on Trump’s rhetoric surrounding immigration, and said there “seems to be no ability in his mind to distinguish between Black people and what DEI is.”
After Goldberg ultimately concluded that Trump “has not a great history,” Sara Haines jumped in to praise the work of Finding Your Roots host Henry Louis Gates Jr. in helping people trace their roots that were destroyed. Haines posed these efforts in sharp contrast to the Pentagon removing webpages “honoring Black military figures” and “temporarily removed” information on the Tuskegee Airmen.
“Those steps make it very hard not to see what he’s saying,” she added.
Hostin reiterated, “Let’s call a thing a thing. Donald Trump is a racist. There is no question in my mind. It’s time to say the truth and tell it like it is.”
Hostin highlighted “the most recent” instance of Trump posting “the Obamas depicted as apes in The Lion King, where there are no apes,” on TruthSocial. While Hostin said Trump “tried to blame a staffer” for the “racist act,” Chrisley emphatically insisted that “it in fact was a staffer who posted it.”
However, in a clip from yesterday’s press briefing, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Trump’s TruthSocial posts come directly from the president.
Hostin exclaimed, “President Trump is a racist who put that clip of the Obamas on there.”
Chrisley continued her defense of Trump’s work, claiming that “for the first time in history, HBCUs got permanent funding under the Trump administration.” However, Goldberg and Hostin were quick to point out that funding “was started before” Trump got into office. Nonetheless, Chrisley said she “agree[s] wholeheartedly that the White House failed when it came to the posting of that video.” Haines eventually questioned why Trump did not “come out publicly” for something so egregious, Chrisley agreed that Trump “should have come out harder.”
Goldberg tried to lighten the mood at the end of the segment, noting that “the good thing about this show” is that “everybody has an opinion.”
“We say, ‘I don’t agree, I don’t think this is cool.’ And we can have these conversations, and then we go away and talk about our bra size,” she teased.
The View airs on weekdays at 11/10c on ABC.