• What Happened: Whoopi Goldberg addressed her name appearing in the Epstein files on The View, explaining it was from a 2013 email where someone asked Epstein if he would loan his plane for her charity trip to Monaco.
  • Why It Matters: Co-host Joy Behar declared "anybody can be on this list," with Whoopi agreeing, a defense that applies equally to President Trump, whose name appears in the files far more frequently.
  • Bottom Line: The View's most vocal Trump critics just handed conservatives the most ironic talking point of the entire Epstein news cycle.

You genuinely could not write a more ironic moment if you tried.

Whoopi Goldberg, one of the most vocal Trump critics on American television, took to The View on February 17 to address her name appearing in the Jeffrey Epstein files. In defending herself, she accidentally made the strongest possible argument for every single person on that list, including the man she has spent years attacking.

Here is what the files actually show on Whoopi. A 2013 email from a charity event organizer asked Epstein if he would offer his private jet to fly Goldberg to Monaco for Julian Lennon's White Feather Foundation charity event. Epstein responded with two words: no thanks. That is it. Goldberg never flew on his plane, never met him, and by all accounts had zero personal relationship with the man.

"I wasn't his girlfriend. I wasn't his friend," Goldberg told her co-hosts firmly.

Co-host Joy Behar summed up the defense perfectly: "So in other words, anybody can be on this list."

"Anybody," Whoopi confirmed.

There it is. The View's own hosts, in defending Whoopi, just articulated the exact argument that Trump supporters have been making for months. Trump's name appears in the files far more times than Whoopi's, but context matters. Being mentioned in a document does not equal guilt. Being on a list does not mean you committed a crime.

Co-host Sara Haines even backed this up, noting that names appear in the files through news articles, third party emails, and contact lists among the wealthy and famous.

The irony is that Whoopi's argument applies to everyone. When Behar brought up Trump's mentions in the files, Goldberg said she could only speak for herself.

But she already said everything that needed to be said.