The hosts of ABC’s “The View” elevated Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) to “MENSA” status during Wednesday’s broadcast, drawing a bizarre comparison between the Democratic socialist darling and President Donald Trump.
Led by Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar, the ABC midday talk show’s hosts argued that Trump’s occasional verbal gaffes — including one recent instance in which he mentioned Iceland in place of Greenland — stand as incontrovertible evidence that Ocasio-Cortez is a certifiable genius by comparison.
WATCH:
After playing soundbites of Trump mispronouncing words, Joy Behar tries to claim AOC’s rambling answer on Taiwan was “Mensa” material.
Savannah Chrisley immediately counters: “Mispronouncing a word is totally different than not knowing your position on Taiwan.” pic.twitter.com/702X6SOJNY— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) February 18, 2026
The hyperbolic comparison came after the Bronx congresswoman made several statements over the weekend that spotlighted her ignorance of both world history and current U.S. foreign policy. The first was a statement she made criticizing Secretary of State Marco Rubio for claiming that horses and the idea of American “cowboys” were originally brought to the United States by Spanish explorers and conquistadors. Of course, Rubio was correct. And the second was a rambling, incoherent response to a question about whether or not American troops should defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion.
Goldberg responded to the brouhaha regarding Ocasio-Cortez by playing a brief clip of Trump clearly saying “Iceland” when he meant to say “Greenland.”
“So, clearly …” she said, letting her voice trail off.
“My mother used to say, ‘Don’t spit up in the air, it comes back in your face,’” Behar added. “Okay? Check him out before you start attacking AOC, who, by the way, it sounded a little ‘homina, homina, homina,’ but you know, compared to him it’s like MENSA.”
Guest Savannah Chrisley stepped in to defend the president, saying that his “mispronouncing a word” was a far cry from having no idea what a policy was or how to articulate it.
“[It’s] totally different than not knowing your position on Taiwan,” she said. “And what’s important is how you recover from something.”
Trump followed his gaffe by meeting with world leaders and discussing global affairs and American interests, while Ocasio-Cortez went to The New York Times to complain that conservatives were sharing unflattering clips of her saying exactly what she’d said.
“The recovery is what mattered, and AOC just didn’t have a recovery,” Chrisley said.
“But he does it over and over again,” Behar complained. “How about the quantity of times?”
Goldberg then interrupted to point out that Trump is the current president, which obviously made his verbal gaffes a bigger deal than AOC’s, but made no effort to explain why she’d been silent while former President Joe Biden — while in office — was often unable to complete a sentence without mumbling something unintelligible or saying something staffers would have to clean up later.
“My point is, I can take ‘homina, homina’ from congresspeople and stuff, you don’t have your stuff together, that’s on you,” Goldberg declared. “Can’t take it from the guy who says he’s the leader of the free world.”
