Fact Check: Did “The View” want Jill Biden to become surgeon general?

With Donald Trump’s cabinet nomination picks dominating headlines, ABC’s The View has been wading into the discussion, debating and criticizing picks like now-withdrawn candidate Matt Gaetz, Pete Hegseth, and Dr. Mehmet Oz.

This week, co-host Sunny Hostin had to read a disclaimer on air after repeating trafficking allegations about Matt Gaetz, allegations Gaetz has denied and called a “false smear.” A DOJ investigation into Gaetz was formally closed last year, and no charges were brought.

With these criticisms in the air, there is a claim that the show had picked Dr. Jill Biden as its choice for surgeon general back in 2020, despite the fact that the first lady is not a medical doctor.

The Claim

A post on X, formerly Twitter, by the media aggregator Grabien, on November 20, 2024, said, “‘The View’ Once Wanted ‘Dr. Jill Biden’ To Become Surgeon General, They Now Call Heart Surgeon Dr. Oz Unqualified.”

The post included a link to a video Grabien gathered from the November 20, 2024, broadcast of The View, in which they discussed Donald Trump’s nomination of Dr. Mehmet Oz to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Co-host Joy Behar said, “You know, Dr. Oz is a very well-known heart surgeon. This is an administrative position. But because he’s on television, Trump picks people who are on TV. You know, they might as well pick Dr. Pimple Popper.

“I mean, the guy is qualified to do heart surgery, not necessarily run Medicare. But, you know, Trump, it seems to me, with all of his choices, it seems to me like he really is in the burning down mode. Let’s just destroy all these organizations and then start over again.”

The Facts

The co-hosts criticized Dr. Oz’s nomination, noting his history of promoting dubious weight-loss cures on his TV shows and the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for COVID-19. Some questioned his suitability to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

However, the claim that, whether collectively or among the group, The View thought Jill Biden should become surgeon general, despite her lack of qualifications, needs some context.

In 2020, Whoopi Goldberg said on The View that the future first lady could become surgeon general if Joe Biden won the presidency, calling her a “hell of a doctor.”

“I’m hoping Dr. Jill becomes the surgeon general, his wife,” Goldberg said.

“Joe Biden’s wife. She would never do it, but yeah, she’s a hell of a doctor. She’s an amazing doctor.”

Sunny Hostin responded, “She’s a teacher but might be good for (former Education Secretary) Betsy DeVos’s post.”

Newsweek reached out to a media representative for The View via email for comment.

As previously reported by Newsweek, The honorific “Dr.” in Biden’s title does not refer to a medical degree but rather a doctorate in education she received from the University of Delaware in 2007.

Dr. Biden is a longtime educator, per her official White House biography, and has taught in Delaware schools for over a quarter-century. As second lady, she taught English at Northern Virginia Community College.

As reported by The Hill, Goldberg later said in the episode: “I was wrong about his wife. I was wrong, before you start texting and emailing.”

The Ruling

Needs Context.

The View’s hosts did not collectively suggest that Jill Biden should become the next surgeon general. Whoopi Goldberg made the comment, which was corrected by her co-hosts. Goldberg later noted that she was mistaken.

FACT CHECK BY Newsweek’s Fact Check team