The matter that the terrible co-hosts were discussing was a televised briefing that Elon and President Trump delivered from the Oval Office. During the press conference, which revolved around some of the fraud and waste that Elon and his Department of Government Efficiency have discovered, “Lil X,” as Musk calls his young son, was in the room, mainly sitting on the ground near the desk.

Goldberg, beginning the portion of the segment in which the co-hosts attacked “Lil X,” said, “Yeah, so yesterday Elon Musk took his son X to a press conference —” Cutting her off, co-host Joy Behar chimed in to ask, “X?” Shaking her head, Whoopi directed a snide remark at the boy over his name, saying, “I did not name the child.”

Behar, asking again about the boy’s name, asked, “That’s the kid’s name?” Whoopie Goldberg, whose real name is Caryn Elaine Johnson, said, “And I don’t want to hear any more mess about our names. Okay?” Continuing, she then said, “Anyhoo, he took little X —” Behar, mocking the boy and his name, said, “And little Instagram.”

Then, when Sarah Haines chimed in to say that Elon doesn’t own Instagram, Whoopi kept going and attacked Elon for bringing his son with him to the event, saying, “He doesn’t own Instagram, he just took Lil X with him. To a press conference in the Oval Office to defend himself against critics who say he should not have the power to gut the federal agency.” Watch them here:

While Whoopi and her fellow co-hosts were utterly nasty in their comments about Musk and his son, some commenters online were kind and pleasant. Actor William Shatner, for example, wrote, in response to a video of Musk with the boy, “Is that one of your young engineers that work for DOGE? I did hear that you hire young but this is something else!  #adorable” Responding to Shatner, a commenter said, “That little guy and others his age actually stands to benefit the most from any reduction of debt this generation makes. Let’s not pass the debt on to them!”

Will Cain, joking about how Musk bringing his son with him shows he is ready for the job of DOGE, said, “Personally I think we should trust a guy to find waste and fraud who doesn’t even spend on a babysitter. @elonmusk” Agreeing, a commenter said, “I see a man who can focus on details of our government’s mishandling of our money. He also is able to focus on his other businesses. Plus he is able to stay calm with his son on his shoulders and playing with his hair. I love seeing a man proud of his children.”

Another commenter noted that Elon’s interactions with X are a great quality of his, saying, “One of the most endearing characteristics of @elonmusk is that he wants to be with and influence his child’s life view himself, not leave X with a babysitter. So I say, bravo to this man on yet another level!”

Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video