Whoopi Goldberg may have just shocked some of her biggest critics.

The longtime co-host of The View stunned the table when she defended the New York Knicks visiting President Donald Trump at the White House after their NBA Championship win.

Goldberg, 70, is known for clashing with conservatives and rarely finds herself being cheered by Trump supporters. But this time, the Sister Act star took a position that may have left plenty of viewers doing a double take.

On the Thursday, June 18, episode of The View, Goldberg said she wanted the entire Knicks team to accept the White House invitation and show up proudly as champions.

“I want them to go,” Goldberg declared.

For Goldberg, a die-hard Knicks fan, the moment was bigger than Trump, bigger than politics and bigger than the usual shouting match that often takes over daytime TV.

She argued the team should walk into the White House and stand tall after a hard-fought championship season.

“I want all those Black men to stand in our house and remind all of those people, as we tried to remind the vice president, that when you try to destroy one part of history, you’re destroying all of our histories,” Goldberg said.

She added that the players’ visit could send a powerful message to young fans watching at home.

“And they, as champions, not only as amazing basketball players, but as people who were down and came back up, [can say], ‘This is what this looks like. Yeah, this is what this looks like,’” Goldberg continued.

“So I want them to go. I want them to go. If only so the kids know that nobody, nobody can keep you down.”

The remark immediately set off debate at the table.

Sunny Hostin worried the White House event could become too political and said Trump might try to “politicize” the celebration.

Sara Haines also warned that the players could end up in an awkward spot, especially if some of them do not want to attend.

“This puts the players in a really precarious position,” Haines said. “I know you might get people that refuse to go. I just think it’s not fair to take any of the flowers and the beauty of this moment and its unity and try to then place it on the player’s backs.”

But Goldberg was not having it.

Instead of backing down, she doubled down.

“For me, for this moment, it must be about more than him,” she said.

That line may be what caught viewers by surprise.

Goldberg did not suddenly become a Trump fan. She did not turn the segment into a political endorsement. But she did argue that a championship team being honored at the White House is a tradition that can still mean something.

For an audience used to seeing Goldberg battle with conservative voices, the moment was unexpected.

The White House drama came after Goldberg had already defended Trump’s decision to attend Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden.

Some critics complained that Trump’s appearance brought more security, street shutdowns and chaos to a city already buzzing over the Knicks’ long-awaited championship run.

Haines said earlier this month that New Yorkers had waited 27 years for this moment and did not need the extra drama.

“Everyone that is from New York and all the implants like myself are going, and I just think it added a lot of chaos to something that the people have been waiting for for 27 years,” Haines said.

Goldberg pushed back then, too.

She said Knicks fans had earned the right to be there, no matter who they are or where they sit politically.

“Anyone who’s a Knicks fan should be there,” Goldberg said, naming Trump and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani as examples.

“You earn the right as a Knicks fan,” she continued. “I don’t care who you are. I don’t have to like you, I don’t have to dig you. If I was as big as them, I’d still be going.”

She added, “All we need to concentrate on is putting our good energy towards the Knicks. That’s what this is about.”

Of course, the drama did not end there.

The Knicks lost Game 3 to the San Antonio Spurs, and the internet wasted no time turning Trump’s appearance into a bad-luck punchline.

Some fans joked that the president had brought “bad juju” to Madison Square Garden.

Hostin leaned into the joke the next day.

“We had an impeccable vibe in New York until the orange man showed and put the bad juju onto Madison Square Garden,” she said. “Now, we’re gonna have to go back in and sage the whole Madison Square Garden to get the bad juju out.”

But even with the jokes, backlash and usual View fireworks, Goldberg’s message stayed the same.

The Knicks won the championship. They earned the spotlight. And in her view, they should walk into the White House like champions.

It was a rare moment where Whoopi Goldberg’s take may have surprised even the viewers who usually disagree with her most.