In a moment that sharply underscores the contradictions of identity politics colliding with religious doctrine, The View’s Sunny Hostin delivered a stunning about-face on her previously critical stance toward newly-elected Pope Leo XIV, after discovering he has black and Haitian ancestry.
Hostin, who has long styled herself as a “devout Catholic” despite openly opposing the Church’s official positions on abortion, marriage, and sexuality, initially expressed deep unease with Pope Leo’s adherence to traditional Catholic teachings, especially his views on LGBTQ+ issues.
But just days after expressing her reservations, Hostin pivoted—dramatically—upon learning that both of the pope’s maternal grandparents were of Haitian descent and listed as black or “mulatto” in early 20th-century census and marriage documents.
On Monday’s show, Hostin described the discovery as a “chef’s kiss” moment, a phrase often reserved for delight or aesthetic perfection. She noted the racial classification of the pope’s maternal grandparents in historical records and celebrated the implications. “So we actually have a black pope!” she declared with obvious enthusiasm, adding, “So I’m loving it. I’m really enjoying it.”
After denouncing him last week, The View's race baiter, Sunny Hostin does a 180-flip-flop on Pope Leo once she found out of his black ancestry:
"As it turns out, our new American pope has Haitian and black roots! So, we actually have a black pope! ... It's a chef's kiss for me… pic.twitter.com/EYzfI7jbYR— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) May 12, 2025
Cohost Ana Navarro joined the excitement, voicing her own approval of the revelation. In their segment, both seemed to suggest that the pope’s racial identity mitigated concerns about his theological positions.
But that tone was markedly different from just three days earlier, when Hostin warned that Pope Leo’s record was problematic for progressive Catholics. Specifically, she pointed to a 2012 address in which he expressed concern over a culture growing increasingly tolerant of beliefs “at odds with the gospel,” explicitly referencing the homosexual lifestyle and nontraditional family structures.
What emerges from Hostin’s shift is not merely a moment of personal re-evaluation—it’s a microcosm of a broader tension in modern progressive discourse: when identity clashes with ideology, which one prevails? In Hostin’s case, race apparently carried more weight than the doctrinal concerns she had only recently raised. The notion that a pope’s heritage could redeem or outweigh his orthodox theology reveals a revealing lens through which many public figures now view complex issues: through the prism of identity first, substance second.
That may resonate on daytime television, but it raises hard questions for Catholics trying to reconcile personal beliefs with a 2,000-year-old institution that rarely bends to the moment. Pope Leo XIV, born Robert Prevost in Chicago, has not publicly shifted his views since being elevated to the papacy, and there’s no indication that his leadership will depart from the Church’s long-standing teachings.