The only thing “The View” hosts delivered faster than Donald Trump’s “baby bonus” promise was their skepticism.
On a Wednesday’s episode of “The View,” host Whoopi Goldberg kicked off the Hot Topics segment with a raised eyebrow, introducing the White House’s reported plan to combat declining birth rates in America.
“The White House is looking into offering $5,000 cash bonuses, expanded access to IVF, along with other incentives for women to have more babies,” she said, with a sarcastic grin.
Goldberg didn’t mince words, calling the idea “incredibly insulted,” and arguing that the administration “doesn’t know how women’s bodies work, and they don’t know what it costs to raise a child or just have a child.”
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She even did some quick math, pointing out that after taxes, the supposed $5,000 would shrink to about $2,500 after Uncle Sam gets his cut. She later turned to her fellow panelists and asked their thoughts on the proposal.
Sara Haines didn’t hold back either, saying the proposal was comparable to “putting a band-aid on a deeper problem.”
“We don’t have paid family leave in this country or subsidized child care,” she noted, adding that maternal mortality rates remain alarmingly high — a reality she believes that the administration should be prioritizing over population incentives.
“I’m one of those people that I feel the earth is overpopulated,” Haines continued. “They want more babies because it affects not only the workforce, but paying into entitlement programs,” she said, noting they’re missing the bigger picture.
She suggested that the administration focus on preparing for the rise of artificial intelligence, which she believes will have a greater long-term impact on social systems than birth rates.
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Sunni Hostin chimed in as well, saying Americans should be asking not just what is being proposed, but why — and by whom.
Meanwhile, Goldberg remained unconvinced by the $5,000 figure, calling it offensive in the context of the very social programs the government has chipped away at in recent years. Before she could finish, Alyssa Farah cut in: “Isn’t something better than nothing?”
Goldberg responded: “No!”
Farah tried to draw comparisons, arguing that if then-President Joe Biden had proposed the same plan, it would’ve been hailed as “groundbreaking.”
Goldberg quickly had a rebuttal for her fellow panelist.
“I don’t like the idea that somebody is saying, ‘I’m going to pay you to have more kids,’” Goldberg said. “If you want people to have children, you have to not scare them by cutting all these programs that they may need.”
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