Whoopi Goldberg Stood Up to Her View Co-Hosts to Defend Trump at the NBA Finals and Everything Fell Silent

Sunny Hostin spent years calling Donald Trump every name in the book on national television.

Now she wanted to keep him out of Madison Square Garden – and her own co-host said no.

Whoopi Goldberg just drew a line even Trump's harshest critics won't cross, and what she said next has the left melting down.

Whoopi Goldberg Defends Trump at the NBA Finals in Front of 20 Million Viewers

Trump made history Monday night as the first sitting president to attend an NBA Finals game – invited personally by Knicks owner James Dolan to watch New York face the San Antonio Spurs in Game 3.

Hostin was furious before the opening tip even happened.

She went on The View and declared Trump would bring "bad juju" to the arena.

She told her co-hosts that fans who paid $10,000 a ticket didn't want two hours of TSA-style security lines just because the president showed up.

She said flat out: "I don't think he should come."

Then Whoopi Goldberg looked at her and said no.

"I think anybody who's a Knicks fan should be there," Goldberg told the audience. "You earned the right as a Knicks fan. I don't have to like you."

Goldberg didn't stop there.

"I'm sorry. Trump and Mayor Mamdani are Knicks fans and have been. They're New Yorkers. There's nothing either one of them can do to change what's happening in this city for this team."

The audience applauded – which apparently surprised everyone, including Hostin.

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The Knicks Lost Game 3 and the Left Blamed Trump

Trump flew into New York on Marine One, then motorcaded to MSG where he took a glass-enclosed suite with Sean Duffy, Lee Zeldin, Dan Scavino, Jared Kushner, Steve Witkoff, and his granddaughter Kai Trump.

He watched from that suite while the arena – deep blue New York City – booed him during the national anthem.

Trump said afterward he heard "mostly cheers."

Then the Knicks lost 115-111 to the Spurs, with Wembanyama finishing with 32 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists.

The loss snapped a 13-game playoff run – the second-longest winning streak in NBA postseason history.

ESPN's Stephen A. Smith had already gone on record: "If they lose tonight, I'm looking right at him. I'm blaming the president of the United States of America."

The internet immediately obliged.

Hostin came back Tuesday with everything she had.

"We had an impeccable vibe in New York until the orange man showed and put the bad juju onto Madison Square Garden," she told the audience. "We're gonna have to go back in and sage the whole Madison Square Garden to get the bad juju out."

Sunny Hostin Says Trump Put Bad Juju on Madison Square Garden

The Knicks were not playing their best basketball Monday night.

Whoopi said exactly that – and she was correct.

"These guys were not playing at their best, and they know it. By saying that it's his fault that we lost means that no responsibility is taken."

Hostin's response was to announce she would sage Madison Square Garden to remove the bad karma.

That's where the left is right now.

A sitting president made history by attending an NBA Finals game – invited by the team's owner, surrounded by cabinet members, accompanied by his granddaughter – and the best Sunny Hostin could offer was ceremonial smoke.

Whoopi Goldberg, who has spent years leading the charge against Trump on that same stage, looked at her co-host and chose honesty over the ritual.

That's the story.

The series stands 2-1 New York, and Game 4 goes Wednesday night at MSG.

But Hostin already has the sage ready – because when the left can't beat the argument, they burn something.

Sources:

• Paul Bois, "Watch: Whoopi Goldberg Defends Trump Attending Knicks Game at Madison Square Garden," Breitbart, June 9, 2026.
• CJ Womack, "Whoopi Goldberg Defends Trump Attending Knicks NBA Finals Game 3," Fox News, June 9, 2026.
• "Trump Draws Much Different Reaction at NBA Finals Than He Did at CFP National Title Game," Fox News, June 8, 2026.
• Nicholas Fondacaro, "After Defending Trump at Knicks Game, Whoopi Is BIG BAD He Was There," NewsBusters, June 9, 2026.
• "Trump's Knicks Game Visit Sparks Security Concerns and Fan Backlash," Washington Times, June 9, 2026.
• "'Lockdown': Massive Perimeter to Ring Madison Square Garden as Trump Goes to NBA Finals," ABC News, June 8, 2026.