Whoopi Goldberg is not happy about the cleanup of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, and she made that abundantly clear on ABC’s “The View.”
The far-left co-host went on a heated rant demanding that President Trump, not the arrested vandals, should be the one facing jail time over the ongoing controversy surrounding the pool’s restoration.
Goldberg opened by dismissing Trump’s claims about vandalism entirely. She called the vandal narrative a conspiracy theory, saying on air, “He is claiming that vandals are to blame. He says they illegally placed chemicals in the water and left a 300-foot gash in the pool.” She framed the arrests of five individuals as coming out of nowhere, and took issue with the president’s call for strict sentencing. “Now, five people are said to have been arrested. He says a ten-year prison sentence will be strictly enforced,” she noted.
Then things escalated. Goldberg declared there was “no proof” of any vandalism, directly contradicting the documented arrests. “It seems to me, that had he not messed with the pool, it would still be a reflecting pool instead of a liquid jungle,” she said. “But to accuse five people of doing this, but seemingly there’s no proof.”
According to a report, Goldberg went even further, suggesting the country should sue Trump over the pool repairs. “I want somebody to sue because if a contractor did this at your house, this is what you would do,” she said. “I think the country needs to say we’re suing you, suing you for doing this without our permission.”
Meanwhile, President Trump has been direct about what investigators found. In his own statement, he said, “Six people have been arrested, and seven people have been cited, for the damage they did to our Country’s now beautiful Reflecting Pool.”
Trump described the damage in detail. “The 350 foot gash, made by a very sharp knife or razors, is actually numerous slashes over a very long 350 foot length. It was purposefully and criminally done, and somebody had to work very hard, probably in the dark of night, to create such a condition.”
The president also addressed damage to the pool’s base, noting that a section “was cut and powerfully lifted off the surface leaving very jagged, uneven edges.” He confirmed that large areas of grass are being replaced and that the pool will be partially drained around the Fourth of July for permanent repairs.
Trump closed his statement on an upbeat note, saying the Reflecting Pool is “as beautiful as it can be” even before those final fixes are made.
Whether Goldberg’s outrage moves any needles remains to be seen. But the arrests are real, the damage was documented, and the repairs are already underway.