“The View” host Whoopi Goldberg made a joke about Elon Musk and JD Vance killing Donald Trump on Thursday’s episode of the daytime talkshow, one which left her scrambling to clean up.
Goldberg, 69, made the quip during a conversation about the way Musk, 53, has inserted himself into the debate about the bipartisan spending bill that lawmakers on Capitol Hill are hoping to pass and in turn avoid a government shutdown.
“Who is in charge?” asked Goldberg, a vocal critic of President-elect Trump, 78. “Because I’ve been saying it for a while. I’ve been saying it – I think Elon Musk believes he’s president. I do.”
“I’ve called him vice president. I’ve called him president. Because I don’t know what JD is doing,” she added, referring to the VP-elect, 40. “I don’t remember the last time we even talked about JD.”
“The View” co-host Joy Behar, 82, then chimed in, saying of Vance, “He’s planning the presidency when they get rid of Trump.”
Looking surprised, Goldberg then asked Behar, “You think it’s ‘Musk-Vance’?” alluding to a theoretical presidential ticket with Musk at the top.
“Possible,” Behar replied.
“Mmmmm,” Goldberg mused to a silent studio audience before joking, “Hey, you know who [Trump] – stay away from the stairways.”
“Because, you know, people put their leg out to trip you going down the stairs. Watch out,” she added to laughs and claps.
Potentially worried about the joke being misconstrued — and receiving a call from the Secret Service — Goldberg attempted to walk back the joke after a commercial break.
“I need to clean something up,” she began. “My cat lays in wait for me on my stairs all the time. That’s what I was referring to.”
