The View‘s presidential incumbent and commander of The Whoopi Goldberg War Room™ had to step in and moderate a diplomatic affair on Tuesday’s episode of the talk show.

The series welcomed history-making former White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre to the Hot Topics table for a wide-ranging discussion about President Donald Trump and a look back on the tumultuous end to Joe Biden‘s presidency that saw him bow out of the race over calls from fellow Democrats like George Clooney (and from View panelists) to do so.

Toward the middle of the chat, Republican cohost (and ex-Trump communications staffer) Alyssa Farah Griffin asked Jean-Pierre about the “onslaught” her team faced after Biden’s disastrous debate performance against Trump in 2024 — particularly after Jean-Pierre having “described it as a firing squad” in a recent interview. “Do you believe that Joe Biden would’ve won if he’d stayed in, and a follow -p to that, do you think Kamala Harris would’ve had a better shot [at defeating Trump] had she had more time?” Griffin asked.

“I was asked a question, I answered it honestly and how I felt at the moment. I was the one going to the podium almost every day after that happened, and it was shocking what I saw. I can’t speculate, I don’t know what would’ve happened. And anybody who says they do, they don’t really know. I don’t want to rehash the past. I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Jean-Pierre said, while turning her focus to what she called a “five-alarm fire” regarding Trump’s current activities in the White House.

Griffin cut in, asking, “But, as Press Secretary, you were also assistant to the president, so that meant you were able to interact with the campaign,” she said, though Jean-Pierre pushed back against that claim: “Actually I could not interact, I had a special kind of role as the press secretary, I did not interact with the campaign,” she said, echoing a sentiment she often reiterated to press during briefings.

“So, you had no, as a commissioned officer of the president, you didn’t…” Griffin said, while Jean-Pierre again stated, “No, I did not. I could not.”

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Griffin pressed on, asking, “You had no insight into the polling that showed he would’ve lost every swing state?” Joy Behar then quipped, “That ship has sailed,” while Griffin doubled down, telling the panel that “it does matter” and that they could “flail our arms about Trump,” but “it matters” to address these issues.

Goldberg stepped in to cut the growing tension. “Okay here’s what’s going to happen,” the Oscar-winning actress said. “We’re going to take a break, because you see this conversation is getting going, and come back with more.”

The show then went to an ad break, and returned minutes later to highlight the end of the conversation between Jean-Pierre and the cohosts.

During a July 2024 appearance on The View, Jean-Pierre deflected a question about Biden potentially feeling “betrayed” by Clooney and other Democrats pressuring him to step down in the presidential race.

“I’m going to let him speak to this. It’s really important that I came on the show, I wanted to share my thoughts as the White House Press Secretary, the person who’s been speaking to him the last couple of years, but also to lift up what we’ve been able to do,” she said at the time.

The View airs weekdays at 11 a.m. ET/10 a.m. PT on ABC.