Whoopi Goldberg stunned audiences after she peddled the theory that President Trump and Elon Musk’s public feud is just a publicity stunt. On an episode of The View, which aired Monday, the hosts discussed the fallout of the president and the former head of DOGE.

Musk and Trump have been fighting online for days, each exposing and insulting each other on X and Truth Social, their respective social media platforms. Most of the hosts of The View – Ana Navarro, Alyssa Farah Griffin, Sara Haines and Sunny Hostin – dug into the intricacies and entertainment value of the fight.

‘The fact that the big, beautiful bromance is over is just very funny to me,’ said Hostin. ‘I found the entire “Yo mama’s so ugly” fight between the two of them incredibly amazing and entertaining but it’s also horrifying,’ added Navarro. But, Goldberg simply questioned its legitimacy. ‘I love that y’all bought into it,’ said the 69-year-old in response to her co-hosts’ conversation. ‘It’s not fake,’ said Griffin.

But Goldberg made it clear that she is certain Trump and Musk’s tiff is purely for spectacle. The actress explained she thinks the administration is using the feud as a ‘distraction,’ to keep Americans talking about something while other things fly under the radar. ‘This is another distraction to keep us not talking about the stuff we’re talking about, but the stuff that they want us to do,’ she said. ‘I don’t buy it.’

Many viewers seemed to agree with Goldberg, although her co-hosts did not. Ana Navarro called both parties ‘so legitimately crazy,’ citing that as evidence toward the dispute’s validity. Griffin said she was ‘giving them too much credit.’

But Goldberg explained that Musk and Trump suddenly being upset about each other’s actions didn’t feel realistic to her. ‘I don’t buy it because they lie,’ she said. While commenters on X called Goldberg’s idea a conspiracy theory, that hasn’t stopped many of them – on both sides of the aisle – from agreeing with her.

‘Whoopi just outdid the conspiracy theorists at their own game. The weird part is… she might not be entirely wrong. I’m conservative, I have zero respect for Whoopi Goldberg! I do think she is right on this,’ commented a viewer. But some weren’t so sure and chose to side with Navarro and Griffin on the issue. ‘The Epstein tweet kind of makes this feel less like a planned strategy and more like a tantrum,’ a viewer disagreed, speaking of Musk’s tweet exposing Trump for being on the ‘Epstein list.’

One user called the move a stunt, believing it to be an effort by the two of them to quell Tesla vandalism across the United States. ‘Not often do you hear Whoopi say what the internet’s been thinking for months. Every feud’s a headline, and every headline is a distraction,’ another person said.