Whoopi Goldberg was startled on The View recently after a shocking claim was made about who was ‘better qualified’ to run the economy. Even though the 2024 U.S. presidential election is still more than a year away, co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin appears to be leaning toward one rather strange and unlikely ‘candidate.’ In a contentious roundtable discussion on the impending government shutdown on September 20, Griffin boldly asserted that Taylor Swift is benefiting the economy more than President Joe Biden ‘s policies are, per Marca .
Griffin claimed this in response to co-host Joy Behar’s praise for the diversity of Swift’s fan base. “I want to give a shout-out to Taylor Swift because Taylor Swift is really rallying the young people,” Behar said. “That girl appeals to I think 100 million people — that’s one-third of the United States population.” That’s when Griffin added, “Taylor’s doing more for the economy than Joe Biden’s agenda, but that’s neither here nor there.”
Goldberg was rather shocked at Griffin’s assertion! “I’m sorry, untrue, but that’s OK,” the Sister Act actress clapped back. Swift’s record-breaking Eras Tour is on track to earn a potentially historic amount of money and has a well-established impact on local economies, but Goldberg scoffed at the claim that the musician does more for the whole nation’s economy than the President.
Even without Griffin’s shoutout, Swift managed to stay in the political discourse rather easily, as per Billboard . Swift wrote a statement on Instagram Stories on September 19, National Voter Registration Day, urging her followers to use all of their political rights. “I’ve heard you raise your voices, and I know how powerful they are. Make sure you’re ready to use them in our elections this year!” she said. “Register to vote in less than 2 minutes at vote.org/nvrd.”
The Cruel Summer hitmaker also reminded her Nashville followers to cast early ballots in their local elections in an Instagram Story she posted earlier this summer on July 17.
Taylor Swift has apparently done more for the US economy than Biden pic.twitter.com/Ro8MeO9w8p
— Aidan Mattis (@AidanMattis) July 15, 2023
Even conservative host Tomi Lahren said Swift is better equipped to run the economy. “She would be better qualified than a lot of the people currently working in the White House,” Lahren said on Varney & Co. , as was reported by Fox News . The Tomi Lahren is Fearless podcast presenter responded to reports that Swift’s ongoing, in-demand Eras Tour is causing the Federal Reserve to consider her fiscal earnings and potential stimulus to the U.S. economy. According to the Common Sense Institute, Swift had an estimated $200 million economic impact via consumer spending, contributing $140 million to Colorado’s GDP alone.
Tomi Lahren says Taylor Swift is ‘better qualified’ than Biden to run US economy https://t.co/exfvXngbj5 pic.twitter.com/CvGpjIaFuk
— New York Post (@nypost) July 18, 2023
“The thing about this tour is not only are people going to the concerts, but they’re getting hotel rooms, they’re buying plane tickets, they’re spending money in these communities when they go and see the concerts,” Lahren explained. “So this is a big generator and we should maybe take a page out of Taylor Swift’s book here,” Lahren continued. “She’s got something that people want to buy. And I think that it’s doing great things for the economy. I think everybody wins in this situation.”
Editor’s note: This article was originally published on October 26, 2023. It has since been updated.