Whoopi Goldberg claimed on Monday that if any American service members were charged with “war crimes” in relation to drug boat strikes, it would be because War Secretary Pete Hegseth had “set them up” to take the fall.
Goldberg and her cohosts on ABC’s “The View” insisted that the strikes were illegal and argued that in ordering them, Secretary Hegseth was putting the service members who executed those orders at risk of prosecution.
WATCH:
The View wants American service members put in prison.
Admitting their speaking about something they’re totally ignorant about, The View accuses War Secretary Pete Hegseth of a setting up soldiers to be charged for war crimes:
SUNNY HOSTIN: I can’t speak to the law of it, I’m… pic.twitter.com/Ocvbb6Mes2
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) December 1, 2025
“I can’t speak to the law of it, I’m not a geopolitical expert, but in terms of the law of it, you’re right, Sara, that is why those Army vets explained do not follow — you do not have to follow illegal orders,” Sunny Hostin said.
“You know why? Because if this is deemed to have been war crimes, which by all accounts right now there are seven sources that said Pete Hegseth did say ‘kill them all,’ even after there were two survivors,” Hostin continued. “What you are supposed to do under international law, you are supposed to take those fighters as war criminals, prisoners of war, and you are supposed to give them refuge and you’re supposed to take care of them and then you are supposed to put them into a court of law. Instead, they killed them.”
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Hostin went on to say that there could be legal consequences for those who gave the orders and for those who carried them out.
“That means the person who gave the order can be held accountable and put in prison, and that means the person that conducted — the people who conducted the orders, that pulled the trigger are also responsible and can be held accountable,” she said. “So, now you have people that are serving their countries, that are serving this country as patriots, perhaps following an illegal order and then themselves can be court-martialed. Imagine that.”
“Well, what he has done is he’s set them up,” Goldberg declared. “He has set them up.”
Hostin echoed comments made on Sunday by Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ), who told “Meet the Press” anchor Kristen Welker that he worried some service members would only learn that they had carried out illegal orders after the fact, when it was too late for them to do anything about it.