Whoopi Goldberg Blasts Tucker Carlson: He's ‘Inviting People to Test the Waters of Fascism’

The women of The View made their feelings about Tucker Carlson perfectly clear during a fiery segment on Tuesday morning. Just one day after Carlson told Fox News viewers to "call the police immediately" if they see a child wearing a mask outside, moderator Whoopi Goldberg ripped the conservative for "inviting people to test the waters of fascism" by equating mask-wearing with child abuse. Added Sunny Hostin, "Tucker Carlson has really become a public health hazard."

On Monday evening, Carlson went viral for telling his viewers to harass people -- and particularly those with children -- who choose to wear a face mask outside. "As for forcing children to wear a mask outside, that should be illegal. Your response when you see children wearing masks as they play should be no different from your response to seeing someone beat a kid in Walmart," said the Fox News host. He then falsely claimed that masking children outside is "child abuse," and encouraged viewers to act accordingly by contacting "child protective services" or the police.

Needless to say, the co-hosts of The View weren't pleased with Carlson's screed, and Hostin was quick to dismiss his "misinformation" when it was her turn to speak. "That airing to millions of people yesterday was so despicable," she said. "In terms of wearing masks outdoors -- let's remember the super spreader Rose Garden event, those super spreader outdoor rallies."

CDC TO ANNOUNCE NEW MASK GUIDELINES: The CDC is said to announce new COVID-19 safety guidance, including relaxing outdoor mask guidelines — the co-hosts weigh in and react to Tucker Carlson taking heat for his recent mask comments. https://t.co/cVclFZQmjA pic.twitter.com/ZEeWEKZBeH

— The View (@TheView) April 27, 2021

"And let's also remember that the reason that many people that are vaccinated, like myself, are concerned outside about returning to events is because so many people don't want to get vaccinated," continued Hostin. "Because there are people like Tucker Carlson that are peddling this kind of misinformation, that are holding us all hostage to others that are public health hazards."

After Joy Behar chimed in to say that equating "having children wear a mask with getting beaten up by parents" is "crazy" and "un-American," Goldberg finally got a chance to air her grievances. "It's just hard to listen to people try to rewrite history," said The View's longtime moderator. She added that Carlson and other conservative pundits are slowly normalizing "fascism" for their supporters by saying that Native American culture is nonexistent, as Rick Santorum did, or that flying the LGBTQ+ flag at U.S. embassies is "anti-American," as Newt Gingrich recently claimed.

These pundits, said Goldberg, want to "pretend" that Native Americans didn't do anything, or "pretend this doesn't exist, so we can all turn around and say, 'It's them. Get them.' And it's freaky. That's what it feels like to me."

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