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- Whoopi Goldberg referred to herself as a "working person" on a recent episode of "The View."
- The comments have drawn backlash, with some users calling her "out of touch."
- In 2016, Variety reported that Goldberg's annual salary at "The View" was between $5 million and $6 million.
Whoopi Goldberg is drawing criticism online for referring to herself as a "working person" on a recent episode of "The View."
On Tuesday's episode of the show, Goldberg and her co-hosts discussed the results of the US presidential election.
Sara Haines, a co-host on the show, said people might have backed Donald Trump in the election because he seemed to care for the working class.
"There were millions and millions of people that felt heard," she said.
Goldberg, 69, said she could relate to their struggles.
"I appreciate that people are having a hard time. Me too," she said.
"I work for a living. If I had all the money in the world, I would not be here. I'm a working person, you know, and my kid has to feed her family, you know, and my great-granddaughter has to be fed by her family," Goldberg continued.
Goldberg's comments have drawn backlash online, with some social media users saying she seems out of touch.
"These elites are so out of touch," a TikTok user with over 650,000 followers wrote in the caption of a video. His reaction video regarding Goldberg's comments has more than 2.8 million views.
Some people commended her honesty.
"She could never work again ever and be fine. But I like her honesty. If she had even more money, she wouldn't be on 'The View.' I respect that," the media personality Perez Hilton said in a reaction video posted on X.
Goldberg has hosted "The View" since 2007. In 2016, Variety reported that her annual salary as a host on "The View" was in the $5 million to $6 million range. Multiple media outlets have reported that her net worth is $60 million, although this figure is not verified.
This isn't the first time the EGOT winner has been called out of touch for comments she's made about money.
In an episode of "The View" that aired in November 2023, Goldberg said young people can't afford to buy houses because they don't work hard enough.
"Every generation comes and wants to do better than their parents did … every generation," Goldberg said in the episode. "But I'm sorry if you only want to work four hours, it's going to be harder for you to get a house," she added.
A representative for Goldberg did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular business hours.
Many Americans feel broke
Goldberg's comments come as more Americans find themselves struggling financially. In the recent election, the states with the biggest swing toward Trump were the ones where wages had declined, and people's spending power had decreased.
During his campaign, Trump promised voters he would bring down the cost of living.
"My plan will rapidly defeat inflation, quickly bring down prices, and reignite explosive economic growth," he said during a speech at the Economic Club of New York in September.
However, economists previously told BI that his proposals could be inflationary. By raising universal tariffs for goods from China, as Trump has proposed, higher costs may be passed on to consumers.
"It's pretty clear to me, all else being equal, you reduce the labor supply very abruptly, and you're going to get an increase in inflation because of an increase in prices," Wendy Edelberg, an economist, told BI in September.