Jeanine Pirro, the host of Justice with Judge Jeanine on Fox News, appeared on The View and sparred with Whoopi Goldberg over President Donald Trump's performance earlier this week during a press conference in Helsinki. The president sparked controversy, accusations of treason, and calls for his impeachment after he sided with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the assessment from U.S. intelligence agencies that Russian operatives interfered in the 2016 presidential election and undermined American democracy.
Pirro defended Trump's performance, saying, “What was he supposed to do, take a gun out and shoot Putin?" and deflected each time any one of the View hosts tried to get a word in edgewise with, "And what did Barack Obama do?”
Pirro continued, insisting that she's “not an ideologue," and referred to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into the president's Russia ties as a "con." But it was when guest-host Ana Navarro, a Republican strategist and political commentator for various news outlets, asked her to justify her support for Trump that the appearance took a swift turn.
NAVARRO: You just said you're not an ideologue. Do you think Donald Trump embraces and embodies conservative ideology? He used to have a different position on pro-choice, he is imposing tariffs, he's against globalism. Do you think he's an ideologue that is faithful to conservative policies?
PIRRO: I’m not here to talk about what Donald Trump is or isn’t. [She then asked Navarro to name one metric in which the U.S. is “worse off” since Trump took office; Navarro replied: "Hate crimes are worse off!"]
After moderator Goldberg tried to get a word in, Pirro accused her of having "Trump Derangement Syndrome," a phrase used by the president earlier this week to scoff at critics of his performance in Helsinki.
Goldberg replied:
Did you just point at me? Listen, I don't have Trump derangement. Let me tell you what I have. I’m tired of people starting a conversation with ‘Mexicans are liars and rapists. Listen, I'm 62 years old. There have been a lot of people in office that I didn't agree with. But I have never, ever seen anything like this. I have never seen anybody whip up such hate. I have never seen anybody be so dismissive.
Their exchange quickly became more combative, with Pirro accusing Goldberg of downplaying "horrible" instances of “people who shouldn't be here end up murdering the children of American citizens," and Goldberg criticizing Pirro's support for “when the president of the United States whips up people to beat the hell out of people."
“Say goodbye, I’m done!” Goldberg said, ending the segment before it could devolve further.
After Pirro had left the set, Goldberg turned the camera and said:
So you saw me do something I very rarely do. I very rarely lose my cool. And I'm not proud of it. I don't like it. But I also don't like being accused of being hysterical. That's one of those things I try not to be on this show.So have a great day.
Pirro later took to Twitter to decry "the left" for "intolerance" and plug her book, Liars, Leakers and Liberals, in which Pirro claims to lay out the case against "the anti-Trump conspiracy."
Goldberg, for her part, has a fair number of supporters.
Pirro's comment that she is not an "ideologue" did earn a few laughs from The View audience, too, as she has often been accused of being too partisan, particularly where the president is concerned. During her View appearance, for example, Pirro characterized Muller's investigation as "fake."
In December, Pirro made headlines after she called for a “cleansing” of the FBI and Department of Justice.
There is a cleansing needed in our FBI and our Department of Justice,” Pirro said at the time. “It needs to be cleansed of individuals who should not just be fired but who need to be taken out in handcuffs.”
She continued: “There have been times in our history where corruption and lawlessness were so pervasive that examples had to be made. This is one of those times,” she said. “I for one am tired of investigations, politicians posturing. Something more has to be done.”
Claiming “political hacks” have infiltrated both agencies, she singled out special counsel Robert Mueller and other officials, saying they should be arrested for their attempts to “destroy the republic.”
“The stench coming out of the Justice Department and the FBI is like that of a third-world country where money and bullies and clubs decide elections,” she said. “It all started with cardinal [James] Comey destroyed our FBI with political hacks to set events in motion to destroy the republic because they did not like the man we chose to be our president.”
Pirro’s comments came at the end of a chaotic week which saw Trump, in yet another attempt to discredit the ongoing Russia probe, use his Twitter account to rail against former FBI director James Comey while––once again––evoking the specter of Hilary Clinton and the investigation into her use of a private email server during her tenure as Secretary of State (no charges were brought against Clinton and her team).
