Whoopi Goldberg Vigorously Defends Elisabeth Hasselbeck

The hosts of The View took on the recent furor surrounding a question that Fox & Friends and former View host Elisabeth Hasselbeck asked regarding Sandra Bland, the Texas woman who died in police custody after being pulled over for a traffic violation. Hasselbeck asked a former NYPD officer, “I’m sure, someone has, in the history of this land, used a cigarette against a police officer, maybe chucked it at him, pushed it at him. If he indeed felt as though that could be a threat, was that the wise thing to do on his part?”

Social media blew up following the broadcast, with commenters accusing Hasselbeck of racism. Whoopi Goldberg, though, was not having it. “I’ve been her friend, we’ve been friends for about seven, eight years and she has not asked me to pick any cotton,’” said Goldberg. “People love to throw that phrase around, ‘You’re a racist. You’re this. You’re that.’ It is not racist to ask a question.”

Related: Is Elisabeth Hasselbeck the Most Polarizing ‘The View’ Host Ever? Vote!

Raven-Symoné and Rosie Perez agreed with Goldberg that the question was a fair one to ask. But newcomer Michelle Collins thought it could have been phrased in a different way or that maybe Hasselbeck should have been more sensitive. Goldberg countered, “You have to ask the question. This is, if we stop asking questions, how would we ever know the truth? How would we know what happens?”

The View airs weekdays at 10 a.m. on ABC.