The View cohost Sunny Hostin questions Taylor Swift being Time’s Person of the Year

Whoopi Goldberg pushed back after Hostin said she was “surprised” that Swift earned the publication’s top honor.

The View ladies are (mostly) all rooting for the anti-hero.

After Taylor Swift was named Time‘s 2023 Person of the Year, cohost Sunny Hostin admitted that she was “surprised” by the superstar’s ascension to the title, given the distinction’s history.

Hostin said on Thursday’s episode of the show that she felt Swift was an “incredible performer and a humanist, philanthropist, songwriter” throughout 2023, but cited others she felt better lived up to the honor’s roots.

“The other people that were up for this award were the Hollywood strikers, the Trump prosecutors,” she said. “The Trump prosecutors may be able to save our democracy.”

She continued, “They also had a couple of other people that seemed to me, if the motto for the magazine is the person or persons who most affected the news in our lives…” before moderator Whoopi Goldberg leaned over the table and pushed back.

“You have — we have — sat at this table and talked about this girl and everything she’s done,” the EGOT-winning actress said. Hostin stressed that she didn’t intend to take “anything away” from Swift with her comment.

“Her gravitas is different,” Goldberg said, praising Swift’s impact on pop culture and society with her ongoing Eras tour, which has been cited as giving a significant boost to local economies around the world.

Alyssa Farah Griffin — holder of The View‘s conservative seat and the program’s resident Swiftie — jumped in, highlighting a “phenomenon and a power” to Swift’s contributions.

“She has the ability to make a major impact for good in this country, and she always uses it when she has the opportunity,” Griffin said.

Swift has long been a Hot Topic of discussion at The View table — recently, amid news of her romance with Kansas City Chiefs player Travis Kelce.