“The View” hosts defend Travis Kelce calling it 'great honor' to have Donald Trump at Super Bowl: 'The kid did well'

The ladies of The View are standing up for Travis Kelce after he received backlash from girlfriend Taylor Swift’s fans for calling Donald Trump’s upcoming attendance at the Super Bowl a “great honor.” 

The Kansas City Chiefs tight end, 35, made his remarks during a press conference on Wednesday. “It’s a great honor, no matter who the president is. I know I’m excited because it’s the biggest game of my life, you know?” Kelce said. “And having the president there — it’s the best country in the world, so, it’ll be pretty cool.”

Kelce faced heavy pushback online from Swift's fanbase due to his positive outlook on Trump's appearance at the event, given that Trump famously posted on his platform Truth Social that he hated the “Bad Blood” singer after she endorsed Kamala Harris in the run-up to the 2024 presidential election. However, one longtime Swiftie sitting at the Hot Topics table thought his comments were just fine.

“I thought it was totally classy, a diplomatic answer, and it’s his big day to be playing,” Alyssa Farah Griffin, dressed in a Chiefs sweater, said. “I think I’m gonna repeat this a lot in the next four years: the presidency is bigger than any one person. He’s proud that the President of the United States is there, I don’t know that it’s any kind of statement about Donald Trump specifically. He’d say the same thing if it was Joe Biden, [Barack] Obama, George Bush.”

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Ana Navarro similarly noted that if Kelce had chosen to call out Trump, he wouldn’t have been the only one suffering the consequences. She added, “It would be taken out on his team.” 

Cohost Sara Haines also pointed out that Kelce was asked the question while he was representing his team at a professional event. “He’s dressed in his uniform: whenever you’re in — whether it’s your company, your brand, your team — you’re representing more than yourself,” she explained. “And he made a point of saying, ‘I love this country.’ That was not: ‘I’m a big fan, I love this person.’”

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Sunny Hostin agreed with Haines’ response, noting that Kelce's choice to express his love for the United States regardless of who was currently serving as president was a huge “tell” for her. 

“We know his brother [Jason Kelce], they are a very loving family, they are very protective over their women,” she said. “I just want to throw up real quick the tweet that Trump put up about Taylor Swift. ‘I hate Taylor Swift,’ he said. I’m pretty sure that Travis Kelce knows that. He was being a diplomat. And I think he did the right thing by not giving into this madness.”

Related: Bethenny Frankel hits back at Travis Kelce's dad over troll comment: 'He used an insult instead' of 'intellect'

Moderator Whoopi Goldberg applauded her cohosts for seeing through the unnecessary negativity and defending Kelce ahead of the big game. “I like that we’re not giving into the madness either. Because part of our job is not to feed that, because we want to help you not be like this,” she told the audience. “So, the kid did well, I think.” 

Super Bowl LIX, which airs live from the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans on Feb. 9, will see the Chiefs go toe-to-toe against the Philadelphia Eagles. If the Chiefs win, Kelce and his teammates will once again make history by becoming the first team to ever win the Super Bowl three years in a row. 

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

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