ST.“WHOOPI GOLDBERG READS KAROLINE LEAVITT’S BIO LIVE ON THE VIEW — THEN DELIVERS ONE LINE THAT STOPS THE ROOM COLD.” The studio lights were blazing. The atmosphere? Tense. Karoline Leavitt had just finished a pointed critique about “aging comedy stars who pretend to understand modern America.” Across the table, Whoopi Goldberg didn’t react. No smirk. No eye roll. Just silence. You could feel it building. Then the moment shifted. Whoopi calmly reached into the inside pocket of her worn leather jacket and pulled out a single folded sheet of paper. “Well,” she said evenly, voice low and deliberate, “let’s make sure we’re dealing with facts.” She unfolded the page and began to read aloud — slowly, carefully. “Karoline Leavitt. Born in 1997. Brief White House staffer.

Multiple political runs that didn’t land. A growing media presence built on confrontation. And now — criticizing voices that have been speaking out longer than she’s been alive.” The studio froze. No applause. No laughter. Just cameras tightening in and co-hosts staring, stunned. Whoopi folded the paper, placed it on the table, and leaned forward. “I’ve been talking about working people, broken systems, and uncomfortable truths since before you knew what a ballot was,” she said. “I’ve taken harder hits, louder crowds, and sharper critics than this.” A beat. Then, without raising her voice: “Sit down, baby girl.” Dead silence. And just like that — the moment was sealed. Already viral. Already debated.

‘She Really Pissed Me Off!’ Whoopi Goldberg Lashes Out at Trump Spox Over ‘Wokeness’ Crack at Briefing

The View host Whoopi Goldberg tore into Trump White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt over a comment she made denigrating “wokeness” — which Goldberg says is what gave Leavitt her job at the podium.

At Leavitt’s first White House press briefing Tuesday, President Donald Trump’s spending freeze was a dominant topic. In one exchange with reporters, Leavitt remarked that the freeze “means no more funding for transgenderism and wokeness across our federal bureaucracy and agencies.”

On Wednesday’s edition of ABC’s The View, Goldberg took great exception with Leavitt in a fiery rant:

WHOOPI GOLDBERG: I have a question, which is why was leading us in this direction?

I would like this young lady whose– this is her first job. I would like her to do a little homework.

Because she said something yesterday that really pissed me off! And that was. She said “There will be no wokeness here.”.

Let me explain something to you. Because without that wokeness, you might not have that job. Because. (APPLAUSE) Because women were not invited to that table. Women were not invited to many tables in this nation.

The reason we fought and busted our behinds to make sure that you didn’t have to worry about this. And now to hear you talk about it, and to hear anybody talk about the wokeness, the wokeness was put in place for a reason!

Because black people couldn’t get into colleges, because women could not get into the colleges they wanted to go to. This is all women. See, this is not black Asian. This is all women. Women were not invited to this party. It was a man’s world. And we busted our asses to make sure that this was a person’s world!

So, please. Please stop using that phrase and talkin’ about– because you don’t understand what you’re saying. You’re saying about yourself that you know, hey, that’s a terrible thing to be. It’s not a terrible thing to be.

That’s why we fought! That’s what we were fighting for. So that you could stand in that podium so that [Karine] Jean-Pierre could stand at that podium. So women of all kinds of colors and ilks, wherever they came from, whatever their belief system was, they had the opportunity to bust down that door.

I just wanted to say.

JOY BEHAR: I think she’s probably been put in there because according to Donald Trump, she’s a ten. You know, that’s what it is.

ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: I want to be clear. It’s not Her first job was her first press briefing. She worked in the previous administration–.

WHOOPI GOLDBERG: This is the first time she’s been the– (CROSSTALK) –she may be. But my point is that job would not maybe have been open to her.

Watch above via ABC’s The View.

The heated exchange quickly spread beyond daytime television, igniting a wider debate about the meaning of “wokeness” in modern political discourse. Supporters of Goldberg praised her remarks as a blunt reminder of the civil rights and feminist movements that opened doors long closed to women and minorities. Critics, however, accused her of oversimplifying Leavitt’s comments and politicizing personal achievement. Regardless of where audiences stood, the moment underscored how culturally loaded the term “woke” has become — no longer just a policy buzzword, but a flashpoint touching history, identity, and who gets to claim credit for progress.