Whoopi Goldberg was briefly rendered speechless by a joke from Sara Haines on Monday morning, as the hosts of “The View” discussed the purported service dog that convicted child sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell has been granted in prison. According to the ABC moderator, the punchline was “too soon!”
Rep. Jamie Raskin said this week that a whistleblower has informed him of special treatment for Maxwell in her incarceration. Per the letter he received, Maxwell’s meals are customized and delivered, guests are allowed to visit her with computers, and the warden is sending documents and emails on Maxwell’s behalf. She has also purportedly been given a service-dog-in-training to play with.
The items on the list made the hosts audibly gasp, with Alyssa Farah Griffin saying she hopes the dog bites Maxwell. But, hosts Sara Haines and Whoopi disagreed.
“No, because you know who will get blamed? They’ll blame the dog and then take the dog down,” Whoopi said.
“The dog will go the way of Cricket,” Haines agreed.
At that, Whoopi started to laugh, but as she processed what Haines said, she simply bowed her head in silence for a moment. “Too soon!” she confirmed when Haines questioned if it was so.
For those unfamiliar, Haines was making a reference to a puppy named Cricket, who was owned by South Dakota governor Kristi Noem. Earlier this year, Noem admitted in her book that she murdered the puppy because she couldn’t train her. The story drew wide criticism for Noem, and continues to be a punchline surrounding her.
Speaking more seriously, Haines was appalled at the idea of Maxwell getting any version of a luxury in prison.
“So what happened to when pedophiles were the lowest of the low in prison scenarios?” she wondered. “What happened to when ‘We don’t need her to be comfortable?’ She has victimized and trafficked young girls, and aided pedophiles in one of the largest public cases ever.”
“I don’t need her to get anything! I don’t care what happens to her,” Haines continued. “The fact that this happened a month after she met with the Justice Department is disgusting. It’s not even like, ‘optically reeking,’ it’s absolutely corruption, and it has to be stopped.”
“The View” airs weekdays at 11 a.m. ET on ABC.
