Whoopi Goldberg Takes a Shot at Debra Messing Targeting Trump Donors: 'The Next List That Comes Out, Your Name Will Be On'
“The View” co-host Whoopi Goldberg on Tuesday took two “Will & Grace” stars to task for demanding that those planning to attend a Beverly Hills fundraiser for President Donald Trump be publicly identified.
Responding over the week to a Hollywood Reporter article about a fundraiser Trump is set to host later this month, actress Debra Messing tweeted: “Please print a list of all attendees please. The public has a right to know.”
Please print a list of all attendees please. The public has a right to know. https://t.co/YV4UoxrPHI
— Debra Messing (@DebraMessing) August 31, 2019
Her “Will & Grace” co-star, Eric McCormack, seemed to agree.
“Hey, @THR, kindly report on everyone attending this event, so the rest of us can be clear about who we don’t wanna work with,” he tweeted. “Thx.”
Hey, @THR, kindly report on everyone attending this event, so the rest of us can be clear about who we don’t wanna work with. Thx. https://t.co/7W3xPG3bI2
— Eric McCormack (@EricMcCormack) August 30, 2019
But that’s not the right response, Goldberg said Tuesday on “The View,” comparing the situation to 1950s-era Hollywood, when Joseph McCarthy’s efforts to root out communists led to alleged Hollywood left-wingers being blacklisted.
“Listen, the last time people did this, people ended up killing themselves,” Goldberg said.
“This is not a good idea, OK?” she added. “Your idea of who you don’t want to work with is your personal business. Do not encourage people to print out lists because the next list that comes out, your name will be on and then people will be coming after you.”
People have the right to support the political candidates they like, Goldberg said. This is just as true today as it was in the 1950s.
“We had something called a blacklist and a lot of really good people were accused of stuff,” she said. “Nobody cared whether it was true or not. They were accused. And they lost their right to work.”
“In this country, people can vote for who they want to. That is one of the great rights of this country.”
Focus on policy, Goldberg advised, rather than pursuing witch hunts.
“You don’t have to like it, but we don’t go after people because we don’t like who they voted for,” Goldberg said. “We don’t go after them that way. We can talk about issues and stuff, but we don’t print out lists.”
She concluded by encouraging Messing and McCormack to think twice before demanding that Trump supporters be publicly named.
“I’m sure you guys misspoke when you said that because it sounded like a good idea,” she said. “Think about it. Read about it. Remember what the blacklist actually meant to people and don’t encourage anyone — anyone to do it.”
Trump, for his part, has also weighed in on the controversy, recalling a time when Messing acted very differently toward him.
“I have not forgotten that when it was announced that I was going to do The Apprentice, and when it then became a big hit, helping NBC’s failed lineup greatly, @DebraMessing came up to me at an Upfront & profusely thanked me, even calling me ‘Sir,'” he tweeted Sunday.
I have not forgotten that when it was announced that I was going to do The Apprentice, and when it then became a big hit, helping NBC’s failed lineup greatly, @DebraMessing came up to me at an Upfront & profusely thanked me, even calling me “Sir.” How times have changed!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 1, 2019
“How times have changed!”
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