This writer regrets to inform you that the co-hosts of ABC's "The View" are back to their armchair governing, this time proposing a new amendment to the United States Constitution to remedy what they see as a threat to the country.
"What really is starting to freak me out is the idea that we're not even discussing changing the Constitution to make it say you cannot be in jail and be the president," Whoopi Goldberg said, referring to the federal indictment of former President Donald Trump who continues to lead the field of 2024 Republican presidential candidates, ignoring the presumption of innocence and assuming both that Trump will be convicted and sentenced to serve time and win the 2024 election.
Sunny Hostin chimed in to agree. "An amendment would be nice," she said.
"You know, I'm a big fan of amendments," Whoopi continued, "because I feel like unless we start to plug these holes, this is going to keep biting us in the behind." Rhetorically, Whoppi asked, "if I can't vote when I come out of jail, why can you be president?"
"That's a very good point," said Alyssa Farah.
The ladies of @TheView are proposing amending the U.S. Constitution to prevent Trump from being president pic.twitter.com/XWowmUtzds
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) June 15, 2023
Hostin jumped in again, arguing that "amendments are very American," before completely misrepresenting the constitutional debate between originalists and those who subscribe to the idea of a "living Constitution."
"Some people argue that the Constitution is not a breathing and living thing, that it's sort of stagnant," she said, trying to smear originalists who, in fact, hold the Constitution in higher regard. "I of course feel differently, I feel that it's a living and breathing thing," she said.
Well, originalists don't oppose the practice of amending the Constitution through the proper constitutional process. They do, however, oppose those — such as the ladies of "The View" — who argue that sporting rifles aren't protected by the Second Amendment and online speech isn't covered by the First Amendment. It's not that Hostin and those who share her thoughts believe the Constitution is some wondrous "living and breathing thing," it's that they believe it exists only to protect what they like and outlaw what they don't.
Whoopi doubled down on the idea, saying the Constitution "has to grow with the country," even though it has throughout America's history. Using the processes laid out in Article V of the Constitution, the United States has seen its constitution grow. It has not, however, been amended with the sole intention of keeping one American out of the White House.
Ironically, the co-hosts of "The View" unintentionally showed how little confidence they have that President Joe Biden would be able to beat Trump in a 2024 rematch. If Trump didn't have a chance, then why would an amendment be needed?
Whoopi also admitted that she's "been having strange thoughts" (we know), and argued that "weird stuff has been happening in the country to show us where the problems are. I think that fact that we have this situation now with you-know-who is there to tell us, 'Hey, y'all have a problem,' and these kinds of things are going to start coming up because these kind of people — people who are not reading the Constitution, don't know the law, don't know how this country runs — are now starting to get in," she fretted.
Well, Whoopi, if you're concerned about people who don't read the Constitution or know the law winding up in the White House, you should probably not have asked viewers to support Biden in his re-election bid. It was Biden, after all, who had his policies swatted down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. From the eviction moratorium and EPA rules to COVID vaccine mandates on private employees — and potentially his student loan bailout — Biden has not managed to demonstrate an understanding of the Constitution or other federal laws.
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