Whoopi Goldberg Explains on The View Why She Needs to 'Support' Carrie Underwood's Inaugural Performance, Despite Some Backlash From Fans

The American presidential inauguration will take place next week, against a backdrop of TV schedule 2025and preparations are underway. Recently, it was reported that a big name in the music industry was going to perform at the event. Country singer Carrie Underwood was officially chosen to perform “America the Beautiful” during the debates. Underwood’s decision to appear has sparked backlash in some circles. The subject was also discussed recently on The viewand co-host Whoopi Goldberg explained why she has to “support” Underwood.

After Carrie Underwood’s latest concert was announced a few days ago, a number of commentators spoke out. X and chastised the 41-year-old Grammy winner for choosing to participate. Their responses seemed to suggest that they were specifically taking issue with Underwood’s participation in an event centered around the US presidential election. Donald Trump. Nonetheless, there is a subsection of the singer’s fandom that seemed enthusiastic about the news.

During The viewco-host Alyssa Farah Griffin felt the public should move past the era of canceling people because of their political leanings and expressed her belief that the “Before He Cheats” singer won’t be hurt by the decision in the long term. Griffin’s colleague, Joy Béharsaid she would not have taken the job if she were in the singer’s shoes, while claiming that by attending the event she was “normalizing” the future president for his second term. In the YouTube clip, Whoopi Goldberg then offered the following response:

Do what you do. Look, people do what they do for whatever reason. It’s like Joe (Scarborough) and Mika (Brzezinski). They thought this was what they should do, and I should support them, you know? … No, not “or not”. Because if I believe that I have the right to decide to go play somewhere, I believe that they have the same right. I have to support – that doesn’t mean I’m particularly interested. I won’t watch, but it’s me.

Politics plays a role The view in a major way, the team having even recently been responsible for reading legal notes from Donald Trump’s team. What Whoopi Goldberg seems to convey the idea that a fellow artist has the right to participate in an event for any reason. In this regard, she also suggests that she can support a decision without actually showing interest.

As the Oscar winner mentioned, Carrie Underwood has largely stayed out of politics during her career. She released a statement shared with THR after agreeing to perform, saying she was “honored to have been invited to sing at the inauguration and to be a small part of this historic event.” She also expressed her “love” for her country and said she was “honored to answer this call at a time when we must all come together in a spirit of unity and look to the future.”

This recent development comes amid the fan-favorite musical artist’s recent return to television. Last summer it was reported that American idol had found a replacement judge for Katy Perry. This ultimately turned out to be Carrie Underwoodand the decision was met with praise from fellow judge Lionel Richie as well as other music industry veterans. Underwood’s philosophy of judgment is to be both “kind” and “constructive” when addressing candidates.

It remains to be seen how the inauguration ultimately plays out as well as how people will continue to react to the “Jesus Take the Wheel” singer’s decision to attend. Regardless, it appears that while she won’t actually watch, Whoopi Goldberg will support the artist’s right to perform as she pleases.

Episodes of The view airs weekdays at 11 p.m. ET. You can also watch the shows on YouTube and the episodes are available for streaming with a Disney+ subscription . In the meantime, American idol Season 23, starring Carrie Underwood, is scheduled to debut on ABC on March 9.