It was a normal day on ABC’s The View on Thursday morning. Meaning a full-blown, unhinged meltdown over President Donald Trump and an accidental live dramatization of what media spin looks like in its purest form. ABC News moderator Whoopi Goldberg even went on to claim that Americans were “already living in the tyranny” of Trump.

If you ever wondered what happens when a group of TV personalities watch half of a Stacey Abrams video on TikTok– yes, TikTok– and start quoting it like scripture, today’s episode delivered: America was apparently already in tyranny, Trump was a dictator, and we’re redefining citizenship on a daily basis.

Reacting to Trump firing now-former federal prosecutor Maureen Comey (the daughter of disgraced former FBI Director James Comey), co-host Sunny Hostin declared: “This is all part of a plan towards - a step towards authoritarianism, towards a dictator and fascism.”

Because firing a DOJ prosecutor automatically made someone the next Mussolini. Never mind that Comey might have mishandled major cases. No, it must be part of “Project 2025,” the mysterious right-wing hydra that lives rent-free in the heads of the liberal pundit class.

When Sara Haines dared to suggest a non-conspiratorial explanation like Comey “overshot the Diddy charges,” Sunny Hostin dismissed it outright, with zero evidence, and huffed a sharp, “No way.”

That also must have also made President Bill Clinton a fascist, tyrannical dictator, since he eliminated over 400,000 federal employees despite pledging to only eliminate 100,000 via an executive order during his presidency. A gargantuan number compared to Trump’s cuts, which has eliminated around 59,000 positions thus far. But, of course, that didn’t fit the narrative so don’t expect to find that on the script.

The conversation naturally shifted to The View’s evergreen topic: Trump is a dictator and we are all going to die. 

When Hostin stated that “eliminating political opponents” was a step towards tyranny, Goldberg exasperatedly shouted, “We are already in the Tyranny!” followed by a gaggle of agreement from the rest of the panel.

Well, thank goodness she could say that, on national television, without being arrested or censored, since apparently we live in a tyrannical dictatorship. Hopefully, Big Brother won’t find out and send her to a re-education prison a la 1984.

But the icing on the cake? Goldberg’s hilarious claim that we no longer even know who counts as an American: “We don’t know who is considered American by America, who has changed the rules every couple of days...”

Changed every couple of days? No examples. No policies cited. Just vibes and liberal rage.

Let’s offer a reality check.

Contrary to Goldberg’s spastic rage episode, the rules of citizenship haven’t “changed every couple of days.” The standards for legal immigration, asylum, and naturalization are codified in U.S. law, debated in Congress, and adjudicated through the courts. That’s called a republic, not a dictatorship.

In fact, one could argue it’s the Biden administration that blurred the line by letting millions cross the southern border without consequence while ICE agents were told to stand down. But sure, tell us again how Trump was redefining “American.”

The panel kept tying everything back to the ominous “Project 2025,” a conservative policy blueprint they’ve apparently decided was comparable to Mein Kampf. Hostin breathlessly warned, “This is part of Project 2025. This is part of the plan.”

As if traditional conservative policy proposals that have been published by private think-tank The Heritage Foundation before the beginning of every presidential term since 1981 were somehow now codified into the Trump Administration.

This segment wasn’t news. It was group hysteria from liberal elites who still couldn’t process 2016. It was a masterclass in spin: fearmongering, hysteria, and exactly zero accountability from ABC News.

The entire transcript is below click "expand" to read.

ABC’s The View
July 17, 2025
11:07:27 AM ET

ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: He can call up Fox News primetime hosts, and they’re going to say, “Never mind, we're not talking about this anymore,” but something he wasn't banking on that's new this term is this ecosystem of podcasters that helped put him into office–

JOY BEHAR: Alex Jones.

GRIFFIN: –who have tens of millions of listeners, Joe Rogan, Theo Von, who are not beholden to him. They truly aren't and they are not going to let this go. If Donald Trump calls him up and says, “Joe Rogan, stop talking about this–”

BEHAR: Yeah, yeah.

SARA HAINES: He’s gonna talk more!

GRIFFIN: –Joe Rogan does not care at all. He will talk about it more, and he's never had that, a truly unaccountable to him, right-wing media ecosystem.

BEHAR: Yeah, yeah.

BEHAR: So, he doesn’t know how to handle it?

SUNNY HOSTIN: Yeah, I don’t think he knows how to handle it, I agree with that. I don't think he was banking on it, but the one thing, you know, I think if you look at it on a macro level, something that's really disconcerting is the fact that the Justice Department fired Maurene Comey, I mean, this is– this was the lead prosecutor in the Ghislaine Maxwell case, the lead prosecutor in the Jeffrey Epstein case before he killed himself awaiting trial. The lead prosecutor in the Diddy case. She's been with the Justice Department for over ten years. She led the public corruption section. I mean, this is– she's one of the best of the best and so, you know, generally federal prosecutors are protected somewhat, especially federal employees from being basically fired for political reasons, that's something that we have not seen in a long time. And I was reading something, and I think a lot of people should take a look at this, that Stacey Abrams wrote about how tyranny takes hold and there are ten steps to autocracy and one of those steps is to harass opposition parties, to harass the civil sector and especially to harass the legal industry and to take out your political opponents, and so we stopped talking about Project 2025 a long time ago. This is part of Project 2025. This is part of the plan, so let's remember that these things that seem to be a distraction, that he seems to be doing this and he seems to be doing that, this is all part of a plan towards a step towards authoritarianism, towards a dictator and fascism.

WHOOPI GOLDBERG: Well, let’s say we’re kinda in the au- author- authoritative. We’re in this.

HOSTIN: I believe we are at this point. When you’re seeing a lead prosecutor, one of the best of the best be fired without cause from her job at the Justice Department and she–
BEHAR: That’s a red flag, isn’t it?

HOSTIN: It is a red flag and that is what we see dictators do, so I'd like people to actually sort of look at it from up here instead of looking at it very closely. This is part of a master plan.

HAINES: None could be because she overshot the Diddy charges?

HOSTIN: No way.

(...)

11:10:39 AM ET

BEHAR: Again, the question, is he losing it?

GOLDBERG: Well, you know what? There's so much going on,--

HOSTIN: Unless it’s part of Project 2025.

GOLDBERG: There's so much going on, and people– his people, his base are pissed. The farmers are pissed. People who have farms are pissed. People who are trying to pay their taxes and do all the stuff that you are expected to do as an American are pissed because you don't know where your Social Security check, when it's coming, if it's coming. We are, like, they've been trying to sort of keep us off-kilter. It's interesting that this is the one thing that has solidified—

HAINES: Stuck

GOLDBERG: — everything and, okay, where is it?

GRIFFIN: Yeah. Yeah.

GOLDBERG: And what is going on it’s really interesting and—

BEHAR: They’re mad. They’re mad.

GOLDBERG: They are mad. And they should be mad! They should be mad!

BEHAR: You see it all over social media.

GOLDBERG: Yeah, you see, I don’t read it.

BEHAR: I do. Well, I was–

GOLDBERG: I don’t read it, so I’ll take your word for it.

BEHAR: Yah.

GOLDBERG: People are mad.

BEHAR: They’re very angry with him!

GOLDBERG: Well, they should be angry with him.

BEHAR: And that’s the beauty of this whole story.
GOLDBERG: Young people should be angry with him, older people should be angry with him, women should be angry with him. Anybody who isn't considered now an American, which we don't know what that is anymore. We don't know who is considered American by America who has changed the rules every couple of days on where– what's going– kids are going to court by themselves.

HOSTIN: That’s a step toward tyranny.

BEHAR: We always thought that–

GOLDBERG: We’re already in the tyranny!

BEHAR: But–

GOLDBERG: It’s not a step! We in it.

HOSTIN: I would agree with that.