Whoopi Goldberg launched a direct critique at former President Barack Obama, delivering a bold and candid response that left her co-hosts visibly shaken and the audience in complete silence.

The unforeseen confrontation unfolded on Tuesday’s episode of The View following Obama’s contentious comments at a private fundraiser, where he advised Democrats to cease their ‘whining,’ abandon ‘navel-gazing,’ and ‘toughen up’ after the 2024 election defeat.

‘It’s going to require a little bit less navel-gazing and a little less whining and being in fetal positions,’ Obama remarked to donors, as reported by The New York Times. ‘And it’s going to require Democrats to just toughen up.’

Never one to hold back, Goldberg was furious.

‘Let me remind everybody who was out in the front lines marching when we had the giant marches that went on. It was the people. The people went out. They were not navel-gazing,’ she declared as she stared down the camera. 

‘It was older people who were saying, “Why are you touching my Social Security?” It was not people whining. It was about people saying, “Why are you taking these rights away from my child when my child was born here?”‘

The 69-year-old didn’t stop there. In a pointed rebuttal that directly challenged both Obama and Shark Tank billionaire Mark Cuban, who had also criticized the Democratic Party’s messaging, Goldberg insisted that criticism of the left was misdirected.

‘This has not been about Democrats laying back,’ she thundered. 

‘This has been about y’all. Because their messaging was always the same. Democrats have been angry at what this man tried to do the last time. They’ve been angry this time. So, with much due respect to you both, I believe you are pointing the finger at the wrong person when you say Democrats.’

Co-host Sara Haines attempted to clarify whether Goldberg was differentiating between voters and elected officials, to which she responded emphatically: ‘Yes, I am. You’re saying that because I agree – voters are very impassioned voters.’

Cuban, speaking in a virtual address that aired during the segment, scolded Democratic strategists for reducing their message to a simplistic mantra: ‘Trump sucks.’

‘We picked the wrong pressure points,’ Cuban said. ‘It’s just “Trump sucks.” That’s the underlying thought of everything the Democrats do. Trump says the sky is blue. ‘Trump sucks.’ That’s not the way to win.’

Co-hosts Ana Navarro and Sunny Hostin tried to offer more nuanced takes urging Democratic officials to produce detailed policy alternatives rather than rely on protest alone. 

Navarro pointed out how the public resistance to Trump’s immigration policies, was actually resulting in a collapse in his polling numbers.

‘Right now, Trump’s handling on immigration has gone dramatically down,’ she noted. ‘Why is that? Because the American people have taken it upon themselves to amplify the truth, to show up and protest these horrible, inhumane raids… to tell the truth about what their relatives are going through.

‘We have heard the story of US citizen children with cancer who are not getting treatment because they’ve had to leave with their deported parents. Because the American people are doing their part – amplifying, showing up at protest, donating, organizing, and being vigilant.

‘So, some of us say that Donald Trump sucks. He does suck. And it feels good to say it,’ Navarro said to cheers from the audience. 

Goldberg then turned her ire toward those criticizing flood victims in Texas, in a another rant that was no less emotional.

‘Let’s be really clear,’ Goldberg said, ‘You can’t blame anybody for these floods. It’s nobody’s fault. I didn’t do it. You didn’t do it. Has nothing to do with Washington. This was a natural disaster. 

‘If you are writing on people’s socials where you should be giving, if you’re saying these kinds of things – damn you! Damn you! People are trying to get their lives together. These floods are no joke. This is not light humor. This is not how we do in America. We show up for whoever is in trouble. We don’t say, “Who did you vote for?” We show up.’