‘The View’ Audience Booed Journalist Geraldo Rivera For Saying President Biden Should Pardon Trump

In a recent highly anticipated episode of The View, television personality Geraldo Rivera marked his presence with some controversial perspectives that weren't quite welcomed by the hosts. Sharing his theory on how to make former President Donald Trump "go away," Rivera said that, President Joe Biden should pardon Trump, with the condition that he agrees not to run in the 2024 presidential election. The suggestion did not go well with the audience, who responded with boos and disapproval, per a report by Raw Story.

Rivera defended his idea by stating, "Well, he's already been impeached a couple of times. I want, you know, him to move on in his life. He had a pretty good presidency. I know a lot of people don't want to admit that, but I think he had a pretty good presidency." When Co-host Joy Behar raised a valid point, questioning why Trump would ever agree to such terms, saying, "He's never going to go away." Especially since accepting a pardon would require him to admit guilt and acknowledge his actions as criminal. Co-host Whoopi Goldberg echoed Behar's sentiments, expressing, "You know what I want, I want him to cop to the fact that he broke the law, that he did things." Rivera, however, doubted saying, "I don't think that would happen." 

"Well, I don't think — that's why I don't think he should get pardoned because someone who doesn't," Goldberg said as the audience roared with applause. "I remember a guy who could have fired me on Celebrity Apprentice and didn't," said Rivera. The conversation then shifted to former Fox host Tucker Carlson, with Rivera acknowledging Carlson's initial success and charisma. However, he criticized Carlson in the episode as he said, "Then he drifted into this murky area where — swampy area — where, you know, these conspiracy theories — and it's not just January 6th, a whole bunch of different mucky kind of conspiracies. Will he still have that influence? Fox is a tremendous platform, and once you lose that platform, you're kind of screaming in the wilderness and competing with a lot of other people who have podcasts and so forth."

Geraldo Rivera's suggestion that President Joe Biden should pardon Donald Trump in exchange for him refraining from running in 2024 faced strong opposition from The View audience. Rivera defended his stand by highlighting what he considered to be Trump's successful presidency, despite the general disagreement among Americans. The conversation on Tucker Carlson's controversial actions and his eventual loss of influence after leaving Fox News showcased the differing opinions and perspectives among the co-hosts. The audience, on the other hand, was charged to start new conversations around journalism and politics of the states post the enlightening episode. 

Editor's note: This article was originally published on July 20, 2023. It has since been updated.