"The View" co-hosts defend Bloomberg over racial comments by pointing to Trump

Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar attempted to defend former New York City Mayor and Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg by pointing to past statements from President Trump.

During Tuesday's show, Goldberg said she couldn't get upset about Bloomberg's or other candidates' comments until Trump apologizes for what he said on the infamous "Access Hollywood" tape.

"Everybody has stepped in it," she said, referring to Trump's and Bloomberg's previous statements. "And so, I guess I can't get freaked out until somebody apologizes for the [grab them by the p---y comment]," she said, as ABC bleeped her words.

"Once you apologize for that, then I'll get mad about everything else, but I want everybody to stop eating each other," Goldberg added, before suggesting the reaction to Bloomberg was excessive.

During a PBS interview in 2011, Bloomberg cited an "enormous cohort of black and Latino males" who "don't know how to behave in the workplace" and "don't have any prospects."

The Washington Post also reported on a lawsuit which claimed that Bloomberg told a female employee to "kill" her unborn child. According to the suit, he also commented on her search for a nanny, saying: “It’s a f------ baby! . . . All you need is some black who doesn’t have to speak English to rescue it from a burning building.”

A spokesman for Bloomberg reportedly said the businessman never made any of the comments alleged in that case.

Prior to Goldberg's comments, Behar responded to concerns about Bloomberg by pointing to Trump's previous statements. "All I have to say is there are very fine people on both sides," Behar said, alluding to Trump's comments after the racially charged protests in Charlottesville, Va. She also claimed that he "belittled the Black Lives [Matter] movement."

Earlier in the show, Meghan McCain and Behar clashed over the level of attention being devoted to Bloomberg's controversial comments.