Fox News host Jesse Watters suggested on air this week that Taylor Swift is now a “psyop” for Democrats, and on Thursday morning, the hosts of “The View” couldn’t help but crack up at the idea, before tearing it to shreds entirely.
“You know there are real issues impacting millions of Americans: reproductive rights, racism, health care costs, income disparity and gun violence, just to name a few,” moderator Whoopi Goldberg said to tee up the discussion. “But this is what Fox News folks want viewers to be worried about during their primetime broadcast on Tuesday.”
From there, a clip of Jesse Watters’ show played, in which he suggested that an idea was floated at a NATO meeting four years ago to make Taylor Swift “a psyop for combating online misinformation.”
Later in his show, Watters complained, “She posted the link to the Vote.org, so hundreds of thousands of young Taylor Swift fans all registered to vote. I wonder who got to her from the White House, or from wherever.”
When the clip ended, the women all cracked up — save for Whoopi, who was stonefaced.
“You know, I have to say, when we talk about snowflakes — you know they always talk about — you people worry about the weirdest stuff!” she marveled. “She got people to go out and vote, including probably all kinds of people that you’d rather not have voting.”
She continued, “But you know what? We’re going to continue to suggest that folks who have the wherewithal to say ‘Hey, if you want to make a change in the world, go ahead and go out and vote, that’s our biggest thing.’ If she can get people to do that, why would you say that was a bad thing, or talk about it like you’re disparaging it? What kind of bull — bologna. What kind of bologna is that?”
At that, Sunny Hostin chimed in, noting that she has a theory as to why this conspiracy theory is suddenly floating up.
“My theory is that, Taylor Swift was born in Tennessee, she kind of started out as a country music pop princess, and I think that the Jesse Watters of the world thought that she was their princess,” Hostin explained.
“And then, all of a sudden, she decides to endorse a Democrat in Tennessee, she was in support of March for Our Lives against gun violence, she supported the LGBTQ community in her music videos, and she said ‘I’m pro-choice,’ and then she said ‘And vote!’” Hostin continued. “They picked the wrong princess!”
Host Joy Behar agreed, saying that conservatives’ true princess is actually Marjorie Taylor Greene and/or Lauren Boebert. Meanwhile, host Sara Haines had a good laugh at how much work it would take to execute an operation like Watters was suggesting. Whoopi remained exhausted, though.
“I’m tired of dumb people. I’m just, I’m tired of them,” she said. “I can’t handle it.”
“The View” airs weekdays at 11 a.m. ET on ABC.