Fact Check: Did DOGE find $6M grant awarded to Whoopi Goldberg to ‘promote diversity’ on ‘The View’?

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) did not discover a $6 million grant awarded to comedian Whoopi Goldberg to promoted diversity on 'The View,' Snopes clarified on Monday, March 10.

DOGE, headed by Elon Musk, was set up by Donald Trump in his second term as president to check wasteful spending by the federal government. The rumor that the ABC daytime talk show was receiving a government grant of a substantial amount would fall into its purview had it been true. However, as per the fact-checking website, that is not the case.

Claim: DOGE found $6M grant awarded to 'The View' co-host Whoopi Goldberg to promote diversity

As per the publication, speculations of EGOT-winner Whoopi Goldberg receiving millions to "promote diversity" on 'The View' appeared on the internet earlier in March.

A user shared the claim on the social media platform Facebook, with a link to a webpage headlined, "DOGE Uncovers $6 Million Grant Awarded to Whoopi Goldberg to 'Promote Diversity on The View.'"

The linked site, titled 'The Dunning-Kruger Times,' listed a series of odd ways in which Goldberg secured the alleged grant, from teaching a parrot named Ronald Reagan Jr to say "random conservative catchphrases" to introducing "mandatory tie-dye Wednesdays". It also claimed that $1.2 million of the grant was spent on "designer robes for Whoopi so she could look 'like a wise oracle of truth'".

Multiple posts were seen across platforms making the same claim. In one such post, a variation was reportedly visible in the claim, with the user insisting that the amount allegedly paid was $26 million and that DOGE was successful in recovering it.

False: Whoopi Goldberg did not get $6M grant to promote diversity on 'The View'

While many netizens considered the rumr to be factual, no official statement released by the US government showed that the ABC talk show was receiving any form of funding from them.

Moreover, the viral claim reportedly originated from a Facebook page called America's Last Line of Defense and its connected website, the Dunning-Kruger Times.

In the 'About Us' webpage of the site, it clearly states, "Everything on this website is fiction. It is not a lie, and it is not fake news because it is not real. If you believe that it is real, you should have your head examined. Any similarities between this site's pure fantasy and actual people, places, and events are purely coincidental, and all images should be considered altered and satirical."

The site even called out the fact-checker Snopes, saying, "Dunning-Kruger-Times.com is a subsidiary of the 'America's Last Line of Defense' network of parody, satire, and tomfoolery, or as Snopes called it before they lost their war on satire: Junk News."

As such, it can be concluded that the claim of 'The View' getting millions was never true to begin with.