Rosie O’Donnell may have left “The View” more than four months ago, but even without the vocal former co-host in residence, things managed to get heated with Elisabeth Hasselbeck.
This time, it was the woman in Rosie’s old chair, Whoopi Goldberg, who got into a verbal sparring match with the conservative former “Survivor” star over the topic of having children out of wedlock.
During the debate, Elisabeth suggested having children out of wedlock was tough and potentially offensive to at least one segment of the population.
“Here’s the problem with it though . . . this is a big trend now — you have people who are cohabitating and bringing children into the world,” Hasselbeck said. “If you owned a car company for instance, you wouldn’t rent somebody a car without a contract and you wouldn’t sign up for a phone without a lease.”
Hasselbeck then began quoting literature she said she obtained from the Urban Institute in reference to children of parents who cohabitate, suggesting they are “more likely to experience marital hardships such as poverty and food security.” Before reading those stats however, Hasselbeck made sure to note the organization was non-partisan.
“There are people in the gay community who wanna be married to be able to protect their children and have insurance rights and if I were them I’d be pissed right now because people who have the right [to marry] are choosing not to,” Elisabeth later said.
Hasselbeck then seemed to flip-flop, suggesting Halle Berry and Gabriel Aubry couldn’t be offensive for not marrying because they are “rich.”
“Also, you have to remove Halle Berry and whoever she’s with out of the circumstance because they’re in the ‘because I’m rich’ category and can do this. If they didn’t have the money that they have, you have issues when it comes to not being married with children.”
Whoopi quickly jumped in as Elisabeth wrapped up her point, saying she previously was part of the population Elisabeth referred to — those with little money and unwed.
“I was not married with children,” she stated. “I totally disagree and I think you are very young to have such a strong idea.”
Hasselbeck quickly responded noting she is “30 years old.”
The conversation then continued about raising children without money.
“I didn’t have any money,” Whoopi continued.
Elisabeth retorted suggesting it was probably easier on the former “Ghost” actress when she found herself with plenty of funds.
“It wasn’t easy with money,” Whoopi stated. “It’s not easy raising kids.”