Token 'View' conservative Alyssa Farah Griffin loves reminding viewers of her party: 'As a Republican...'
Farah Griffin was named permanent co-host of ABC show last month
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Newly minted "The View" co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin is a Republican, and she's not shy about reminding viewers of that fact.
In her many stints as a guest co-host over the past year, an appearance on "Good Morning America" last week promoting the ABC gabfest's new season, and since taking the chair officially as the show's token conservative, Griffin has frequently noted her political affiliation, sometimes in a defensive posture or while taking shots at her party.
"I will say this as a Republican," she said during a discussion in May about the then-rumored pending overturning of Roe v. Wade. "My party needs to start – If we are, in fact, going to undo 50 years of precedent by overturning Roe, we need to invest in maternal care, paid parental leave, funding for rural health care funding."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I'm a Republican who believes the more voters the better," she said in May, suggesting that stance in the party made her an outlier. "Everybody should have fair access to the ballot."
Alyssa Farah Griffin was recently named a permanent co-host of "The View." (Screenshot/ABC/TheView)
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN SAYS TRUMP RESONATED WITH WORKING CLASS AMERICANS, PUSHES BACK ON SUNNY HOSTIN
In her appearance on GMA last week, she called Chelsea Clinton "fabulous" while adding, "as a Republican," she was excited to question Hillary Clinton when the pair appeared on the program later in the week.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"As a Republican," she said in February, she had once held a top security clearance and was thus critical of both Clinton and Trump for mishandling classified material.
The former top Trump White House aide is now one of Donald Trump's staunchest critics and has repeatedly said he should not be president again, but she said last week she hopes to be a "voice" for his 74 million voters in 2020. She has often invoked her Republican identity while distancing herself from Trump's unfounded 2020 stolen election claims.
"Here's what's kind of scary about it. I'm a conservative, I'm a Republican," Griffin said once after bemoaning a conservative Republican who was defeated in a primary by a staunch Trump backer.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}NEW ‘THE VIEW’ CO-HOST ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN WANTS TO BE ‘VOICE’ OF TRUMP VOTERS
"As a Republican who has spoken out – I resigned before January 6, a month prior – who has consistently said it was not stolen, we lost," she said on another episode.
"As a Republican, we don't have to do that whole Trump thing again," she said in May of politics becoming a binary choice between him and Joe Biden.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Hillary and Chelsea Clinton were guests on the new season of "The View" last week. ((Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images))
While questioning Chelsea and Hillary Clinton on the show last week, Griffin mentioned President Biden's controversial speech against MAGA Republicans, noting "as a Republican" herself she had been outspoken that threats to democracy constituted "one of the biggest issues facing our country."
The ABC show has never troubled to balance out its panel over the years, pitting a token conservative in the chair furthest to the right of the screen to face off with staunch progressives like Rosie O'Donnell, Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin and others through the years.
How much the conservative is willing to "fight" has depended on the person. Meghan McCain, while a Trump critic, had fiery exchanges almost daily with her co-hosts on the issues of the day, while Griffin has been far more deferential and affectionate toward her colleagues. That hasn't always endeared her to right-wing media figures; the conservative watchdog NewsBusters has dismissed Griffin, who is also a CNN commentator, as a "faux conservative." There are also far-left voices who think she shouldn't be on the show by virtue of ever working for and praising Trump, such as MSNBC's Tiffany Cross.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}For her part, Griffin has defended her conservative bona fides and says she deserves to have a voice despite working for a president she now despises.
In the same GMA interview last week, she said "as a Republican," the show clearly "skewed left" but added she wasn't going in trying to change anyone's minds, but simply present an alternative point of view.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}While some conservatives may find her insufficiently feisty, Griffin looks downright right-wing compared to the other new co-host.
New "The View" co-hosts Alyssa Farah Griffin and Ana Navarro are strongly anti-Trump Republicans.
Sitting in the middle of the table on Monday was fellow "Republican" co-host Ana Navarro. Navarro is nominally a Republican but strongly supports Democrats, espouses liberal positions nearly across the board, worked for Joe Biden's 2020 campaign in Florida, and has referred to Vice President Kamala Harris affectionately as "Auntie Kamala."
Navarro was named a permanent co-host alongside Griffin last month. While Griffin worked for and praised Trump for years, Navarro has been anti-Trump from the start of his political rise in 2015.
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Navarro used some of her airtime on Monday to declare the Supreme Court was illegitimate in part because conservative Justices Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh have been hit with sexual harassment and assault accusations.