For the second day in a row, Savannah Chrisley — who is temporarily filling in on The View — found herself in hot water with her cohosts.
Tensions flared on Thursday’s episode during a conversation about President Donald Trump’s approach to DEI efforts during Black History Month.
Whoopi Goldberg pointed out that the president “is being accused of sending mixed messages on the issue,” referencing a recent court order requiring his administration to reinstate a slavery exhibit that had been removed from a historic Philadelphia location. The ruling came around the same time Trump, 79, publicly praised rapper and MAGA supporter Nicki Minaj.
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The panel then aired footage from a recent event where Trump said he loves Minaj because she’s “beautiful” and gushed about her long nails.
Chrisley, who has stepped in for conservative cohost Alyssa Farah Griffin while she’s on maternity leave, responded by saying it was “hard” for her to hear accusations that Trump is racist.
“I’ve seen him firsthand,” the former reality star, 35, said.
Chrisley’s defense comes after Trump issued a pardon to her parents, Todd and Julie Chrisley, following their 2022 convictions for bank fraud and tax evasion. The couple had been sentenced to a combined 19 years behind bars.
Goldberg, 70, attempted to explain the issue to Chrisley.
“Here’s the problem, Savannah, and why many of us have a different take on it,” Goldberg said. “When you target DEI programs with executive orders your first week in office, arguing that the policies undermine national unity — when you shared racist posts about the Obamas, when you pursued the death penalty for the Exonerated Five after you knew they had been exonerated — these are the reasons that his behavior is so hard. And I don’t know whether you know about this, but in the ’70s he was accused of discriminating against Black tenants because he wouldn’t rent to them.”
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Hostin, 57, came back to the topic later in the episode and said, “Let’s call a thing a thing. Donald Trump is a racist. There’s no question in my mind. The most recent thing that he did by posting on Truth Social the Obamas depicted as apes in The Lion King, [when] there are no apes in The Lion King, that was a racist act. He tried to blame a staffer.”
The Chrisley Knows Best star countered Hostin’s claim, saying, “It was in fact a staffer who posted it.”
Hostin escalated the exchange by asking producers to roll a clip of White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt addressing reporters on Wednesday. In the footage, Leavitt said, “When you see it on Truth Social, you know it’s directly from President Trump.”
After the clip aired, Hostin reiterated her stance, saying, “President Trump is a racist.” Chrisley immediately objected, responding, “He is not.”
The discussion then shifted to Trump’s record with historically Black colleges and universities. Chrisley argued, “For the first time in history, HBCUs got permanent funding under the Trump administration.”
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Hostin pushed back on that point, replying, “That funding was started, Savannah, sweetheart, before Donald Trump got into office.”
As the back and forth continued, Chrisley acknowledged missteps on the administration’s part, saying, “The White House failed when it came to the posting of that video because it is the White House’s responsibility to protect minority groups that lost friendships and relationships over just standing for President Trump.”
Goldberg ultimately attempted to diffuse the tension and wrap the segment on a lighter note.
“This is the good thing about this show: Everybody has an opinion,” she said. “We say, ‘I don’t agree, I don’t think this is cool,’ and we can have these conversations. Then we go away and talk about our bra size!”