OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
It is not frequent that anyone from the team of President Joe Biden and his Democrat friends are criticized on the ABC but after First lady Jill Biden made a serious faux pas the hosts actually criticized her.
It came after the first lady extended an invitation to the University of Iowa women’s basketball team even though they were defeated in the national championship game by the LSU Tigers.
“I know we’ll have the champions come to the White House, we always do. So, we hope LSU will come,” the first lady said Monday. “But, you know, I’m going to tell Joe I think Iowa should come, too, because they played such a good game.”
Bishop Talbert Swan was one of the people who criticized the first lady for being a “white woman.”
“Jill Biden is a white woman. Of course she wants the president to invite the team of predominantly white women that lost when the winning team of Black woman come to the White House. She wants to give white women the same privilege that Black women earned. This is America,” he said.
Jill Biden is a white woman.
Of course she wants the president to invite the team of predominantly white women that lost when the winning team of Black woman come to the White House.
She wants to give white women the same privilege that Black women earned.
This is America.
— Bishop Talbert Swan (@TalbertSwan) April 4, 2023
On “The View” co host Sunny Hostin said that the first lady had some “racial blind spots.”
Show colleague Whoopi Goldberg appeared to come to the defense of Biden, suggesting that she may not have known that only the winning team is invited to the White House.
Her defense came after Biden received criticism for her remarks suggesting that President Joe Biden should invite both the winning and losing teams of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament to the White House. Critics called her comments tone-deaf and racially insensitive, as the star player of the winning team, Angel Reese of LSU, is black, while Iowa’s leading scorer, Caitlin Clark, is white.
“Maybe she doesn’t know, as her husband knows, that only the winning team gets to go,” Goldberg said. “Knowing her as I do, I don’t think it’s that she wanted the white kids to come and not the black kids. I think it was more, ‘I’m a teacher and I’m trying to make nice with everybody.’ I just want to point out that sometimes people say stuff or do stuff and people rake them over the coals. But unnecessarily, because they did not take the time out to say well, is this an offense or is this somebody who is ignorant?” Goldberg offered.
“I would think that it’s ignorance. It could be somewhat considered unconscious bias. I mean everyone doesn’t get a trophy,” Hostin said in response.
“I don’t know that she knew it or not but it was clearly a blind spot. She’s got a black vice president to lean on, she spent eight years with the Obamas. I think at this point, there still could be some racial blind spots and unconscious bias,” Hostin continued. “I think this player is saying what a lot of people are thinking, had it been the black team that lost, perhaps the first lady would not have said that.”
Goldberg said that Hostin was making “assumptions” and that she could not know the real reason behind the invite, while co-host Sara Haines agreed with Goldberg, adding she believes it “wasn’t a thought-out thing.”
“I don’t think she meant anything negative by it,” co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin added. “But I think what stood out to me, we want women’s sports to be treated like men’s sports. Because that’s what makes us to be able to enjoy them. And I feel like, men, we would never be like, ‘Oh, the losing team also gets to come.'”
Co-host Joy Behar chimed in, saying she agreed with the “idea of unconscious bias” but not in the first lady’s case because Biden is a “big supporter of Black Lives Matter” and “getting the black vote out.”
“It was clean up in aisle six real quick,” Hostin offered. “Press secretary came out and said ‘she did not mean that.’”
Goldberg concluded the segment by pointing out that the show’s hosts had experienced similar controversies in the past.
Biden has since walked back the comments.
“The First Lady loved watching the NCAA women’s basketball championship game alongside young student athletes and admires how far women have advanced in sports since the passing of Title IX,” her spokesperson Vanessa Valdivia said.
The First Lady loved watching the NCAA women's basketball championship game alongside young student athletes and admires how far women have advanced in sports since the passing of Title IX.
— Vanessa Valdivia (@vvaldivia46) April 4, 2023
“Her comments in Colorado were intended to applaud the historic game and all women athletes. She looks forward to celebrating the LSU Tigers on their championship win at the White House,” she said.
