Comedian and former Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) defended The View co-host Whoopi Goldberg on Wednesday and said that she doesn’t hate Jews, citing that her last name for a stage name is “Goldberg.”
Goldberg was born as Caryn Elaine Johnson and, by Jewish law, is not Jewish.
“I know Whoopi. She’s not anti-Semitic. She chose ‘Goldberg’ for her last name for a stage name,” said Franken, who is Jewish, on CNN Newsroom. “She gave a really fulsome and sincere apology. I think what she said wasn’t quite what she meant.”
“I thought it was great that they had the head of the Anti-Defamation League on,” he continued, referring to Jonathan Greenblatt, who appeared on Tuesday’s show to explain why, contrary to Goldberg’s initial assertion on Monday’s show, the Holocaust was about race.
Despite Goldberg’s apology, ABC News suspended her on Tuesday for two weeks.
Watch above, via CNN.