The exchange unfolded with a familiar rhythm: a political jab, a media response, and then a televised rebuttal that tried to turn the argument into something larger than it started.
When President Donald Trump criticized Pope Leo XIV on Truth Social, calling him “too liberal” and “weak on crime,” it didn’t take long for daytime television to pick up the thread and reshape it into a moral discussion. On The View, that response came in the form of a Bible reading segment led by Whoopi Goldberg, who leaned heavily on scripture to make her case.
Despite Joy Behar's refusal to apologize for calling Jesus a "narcissist" for saying he was the Messiah, earlier in the week, Whoopi wants to lecture the faithful on the right about the Bible and war. She says you need to learn about "The Bible-Bible":
GOLDBERG: But Jesus said,… pic.twitter.com/YmrDUIsqm4
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) April 16, 2026
Goldberg’s approach was direct. She cited well-known passages—“blessed are the peacemakers,” “peace I leave with you,” and “love your enemies”—reading them aloud as a counterweight to what she framed as selective or incomplete interpretations of Christian teaching.
The framing suggested that critics of the pope, including Trump, were missing the broader message embedded in those verses. Her argument rested on the idea that quoting fragments of scripture without context distorts their meaning, and that a fuller reading presents a clearer picture of what those teachings demand.
Ah! Just what we’ve been missing, Bible studies and ‘preachifying’ with Shakespeare's “Weird Sisters”. Endless thanks, ABC. Yeah…
— Maggie (@drillanwr) April 16, 2026
But the segment didn’t stay confined to scripture alone. Goldberg pivoted into a defense of speech itself, stressing that the pope, as an American and a public figure, has the same right to express his beliefs as anyone else.
What do we make of it when atheists and hedonists like the ladies of the view lecture us about a religion they do not believe?
— Morgan Tanner (@EuripidesTruths) April 16, 2026
That point, while straightforward, sat alongside a sharper tone aimed at those she accused of misunderstanding the material they were invoking. Her comment about needing to get into the “Bible-Bible” stood out, both for its phrasing and for how quickly it drew attention online.
The ladies of @TheView seem to be in an endless race to the bottom - trying to answer the question, who among them is the most ignorant and thoughtless.
— Greg Herman (@PorchYeller) April 16, 2026
The reaction to that phrasing was immediate, in part because it echoed an older and highly controversial remark Goldberg made years earlier in a different context. That parallel added another layer to what might otherwise have been a routine television moment, turning a scriptural debate into a broader conversation about credibility and consistency.
