Whoopi Goldberg Shuts Down Climate Protest During Ted Cruz Interview: 'You've Gotta Go!'

Chaos erupted on The View Monday morning when protestors interrupted an interview with Sen. Ted Cruz to demand the show address climate change, prompting Whoopi Goldberg to shut down the vocal criticism.

The interview had hardly begun when a group of climate protestors made their voices heard. As Cruz answered a question about economic issues and reproductive rights motivating voters before the midterms, audience members offscreen began yelling, "Cover climate now!" Cruz laughed and attempted to continue speaking, but as the activists accused ABC of dismissing concerns about climate change, he struggled to make his point over the noise.

After nearly 15 seconds of both Cruz and the activists speaking, conservative co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin interrupted the proceedings. "We do cover climate here, guys," she said. "We do cover climate."

But it was Whoopi's voice that rose above the fray. "Excuse me!" she yelled at the protestors (who were never shown on-camera). "Ladies, ladies! Excuse us! Let us do our job! We hear what you have to say, but you've gotta go! You've gotta go! You've got to let us do our jobs."

a climate protest?? just interrupted the view’s interview with Ted Cruz 🥴 pic.twitter.com/aa6n9bEPwF

— Déjà The View (@dejatheviewpod) October 24, 2022

Producers off-camera managed to silence the activists and the interview continued, but a few minutes later, the protests began anew. This time, though, the control room beat the protestors to the punch and cut off The View's audio feed, but based on Cruz's laugh, it seemed as if they lobbied an insult his way.

"Come on, guys," said Griffin when the audio cut back in. As the yells continued, the show's theme music could be heard, and the show was sent to commercial, as the co-hosts looked on, disappointed.

The fireworks didn't stop there, though. In the next segment, the co-hosts pressed Cruz on his continued support for former President Trump, even in the wake of the January 6 insurrection. When Griffin asked Cruz to declare President Biden "legitimately won the election," Cruz went full Fox News-mode and accused the media of not asking Hillary Clinton about her claim that "Trump stole the election."

"But they didn't storm the Capitol! They didn't try to kill my former boss!" replied Griffin.

"Here's the thing! We may not like when Republicans win, but we don't go and we don't storm," said Whoopi.

"Did I miss an entire year of Antifa riots where cities across this country were burning and police cars were being fireburned?" said the senator. "Your position is the left doesn't engage in violence? Really?"

As the co-hosts fact-checked Cruz, he pulled out a piece of paper and listed off headlines about Clinton's reaction to the 2016 election. "You just said we don't scream at each other, right? Or is it just you that gets to scream?" interrupted Ana Navarro, earning a round of applause from the audience. "Lower your voice, because we are very close to one another. And I know you came here to sell a book and try to pick a fight, but we are not going to do that today."

And about that book: After some more right-wing talking points from Cruz, Whoopi ended the interview and informed the audience that they would all be going home with a copy of his new book, "Justice Corrupted: How the Left Weaponized Our Legal System." Whoopi's announcement was met with some audible groans from audience members, not to mention a few hearty laughs. Hopefully those same guests can laugh clown Ted Cruz all the way back to Texas.

Claire Spellberg Lustig is the Senior Editor at Primetimer and a scholar of The View. Follow her on Twitter at @c_spellberg.