Whoopi Goldberg isn’t buying what Donald Trump is selling. The longtime View co-host suggested on this morning’s episode of the show that Trump’s Vice President J.D. Vance is a decoy for his real VP: Elon Musk.

She shared her theory during a conversation about users fleeing Musk’s X in favor of Bluesky, a different social media platform. Goldberg said Republicans were to blame for the divisive language on X, telling her co-hosts, “It’s not just discourse. It’s nasty name-calling, coming after your family, and ‘I’m gonna do this to you.'”

She suggested some Republicans are even leaving X “because they have opinions that may differ from what is being said.”

Goldberg continued, “I know why, also. As I believe, Elon Musk is the actual vice president.”

When Sunny Hostin noted, “You’ve said that,” Goldberg stood her ground, replying, “Yes, I believe that! I think J.D. Vance, he’s kind of an interim, but I believe that Musk is the real, actual vice president. He’s making decisions, he’s doing things.”

Her co-hosts appeared amused by Goldberg’s theory, with many of them suppressing smiles around the table as she spoke. When she asked, “Why doesn’t he have to give up X with everything he’s doing?” Hostin, the legal expert, replied, “He should.”

Musk has been tasked by Trump with leading the Department of Government Efficiency, a.ka. DOGE, alongside Vivek Ramaswamy. The two wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed published yesterday (Nov. 20) that they plan to find identify “thousands” of regulations Trump can eliminate, which will result in “mass head-count reductions” across the government. 

Among DOGE’s objectives is the reduction of “unauthorized” federal funding. Per The Washington Post, that could lead to ripple effects on opioid addiction treatment, NASA and health care for veterans.

The View airs weekdays at 11/10c on ABC.