“The View” hit an awkward silence, followed almost immediately by hysterical laughter on Wednesday, after host Sara Haines accidentally called out Whoopi Goldberg as the richest person in the room — just based on the sweatshirt Whoopi was wearing.
The moment came as the women were discussing Donald Trump being found liable for fraud on Tuesday, after a judge ruled that he over-exaggerated his net worth and over-valued his assets in order to grow his real estate empire. For Haines, the fact that Trump would do that wasn’t surprising at all.
“I always laughed at his whole whole persona,” Haines explained. “Because when people say ‘Oh, but he was this real estate tycoon,’ I was like, no, he was a caricature. Because when you see him — the wealthiest person in a room is usually in a hoodie.”
At that, things went quiet as everyone turned to look at Whoopi, who was indeed wearing a sweatshirt during the show, as she often does. Realizing what she did, Haines immediately apologized, breaking out into laughter with the rest of the room.
“But actually!” host Alyssa Farah Griffin said, as host Joy Behar point blank said Whoopi “is the richest one here.”
“Sorry Whoopi!” Haines said through her laughs. “I did blow your cover.”
For her part, Whoopi stayed quiet, and let the joke play out. And eventually, Sara did get back to her larger point.
“Usually it’s the people that have to wear big logos on their shirt,” Haines explained. “They need to tell you, ‘I’m rich and I’m smart, and I need you to know it.’ The people that are that don’t need to tell you.”
You can watch the moment in the video above.
