“The View” Names Alyssa Farah Griffin & Ana Navarro New “Conservative” Co-Hosts
Conservative political adviser Alyssa Farah Griffin has been named the newest co-host of “The View.”
The news was announced Thursday, with fellow Republican Ana Navarro also appointed as a permanent panelist to the ABC gabfest.
The pair will join Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin and Sara Haines for show’s 26th season, which kicks off after Labor Day.
Both Griffin, 33, and Navarro, 50, are Republicans who will bring a right-leaning perspective to “The View” — something that has been lacking since the departure of Meghan McCain last year.
However, Griffin and Navarro are two very different types of conservatives and it is said that they do not get along behind the scenes.
Griffin — who has been a frequent guest co-host in recent months — previously acted as White House director of strategic communications and assistant to the president in the Trump administration.
Meanwhile, Navarro — who has been a contributor on “The View” since 2013 — has long been a vocal opponent of the former President and the MAGA movement.
Who is Alyssa Farah Griffin?
Born in Los Angeles on June 15, 1989, Griffin is the daughter of two journalists. Her father, Joseph Farah, was the executive news editor at the Los Angeles Herald Examiner, then an editor at Northern California’s the Sacramento Union.
Her father is of Syrian and Lebanese descent. In 1997, Joseph founded the far-right conspiracy website WorldNetDaily, known for espousing conspiracy theories — including doubts about President Barack Obama’s US citizenship.
Griffin worked for her father as the “special Washington correspondent” during and after she pursued her bachelor’s degree in journalism and public policy at Patrick Henry College.
Her mom, Judy — who’s of Ukrainian descent — has worked for HuffPost, the Associated Press and Comstock’s.
Griffin married Justin Griffin, a current MBA candidate at the Stern School of Business at New York University, in Florida in November 2021. He is the grandson of real estate developer and Republican Party activist Samuel A. Tamposi.
While acting as a guest host on “The View” in February, Griffin revealed that her father and stepmother did not attend the couple’s wedding after she publicly spoke up against President Donald Trump.
What jobs has Griffin had?
Griffin started her journalism career writing for World Daily Net. In 2010, she accepted a media internship with Congressman Tom McClintock and had a yearlong stint as an associate producer on “The Laura Ingraham Show.”
During the 2012 presidential election cycle, she traveled across the country as a spokesperson for the College Republican National Committee, speaking on the youth vote.
Two years later, she became Congressman Mark Meadows’ press secretary, then his communications director.
Under Meadows and Jim Jordan, she then became the communications director for the Freedom Caucus in the House of Representatives.
In September 2017, Griffin became Vice President Mike Pence’s special assistant to the president and press secretary.
Two years later, she was appointed as press secretary for the US Department of Defense after the position was vacant for nearly a year. She also served as the director of media affairs during this time.
She joined the Trump administration as the controversial president’s chief of staff in 2020 and became a White House press secretary that April — a job she later regretted.
Griffin resigned as press secretary on Dec. 3, 2020, which was effective the following day.
She denounced Trump over the Jan. 6 insurrection and joined CNN as a political commentator near the end of 2021.
“At no point in my entire life was my goal to be on TV and be a talking head. I know I for sure said to my husband multiple times, ‘I want to stay off TV because I don’t wanna forever be seen as a Trump spokesperson,’ ” she told Vanity Fair about the gig.
“Famous last words,” Griffin added.
What did Griffin do for the Trump administration?
Griffin was an important piece of the president’s coronavirus response, the Washington Post reported.
She reinforced that report during an appearance on “The View,” telling the hosts, “My duty was to serve the American public and to serve the country, and I did my best to do that.
“We were dealing with unprecedented crises in this country, hearing we were going to have a ‘Pearl Harbor a day’ of loss of life,” Griffin explained about accepting the job during the pandemic.
“And I thought if there’s anything [I can do] to help, I couldn’t say no.”
However, Griffin said she would not support another Trump presidency, adding, “We got to move on from this era.”
What are Griffin’s political beliefs?
Griffin is a conservative.
Although she worked for the Trump administration, she has spoken out against him, saying she quit a month after he lost the 2020 election because she “saw where this [the Republican Party] was heading.”
During the Jan. 6 insurrection, she tweeted, “Condemn this now, @realDonaldTrump … You are the only one they will listen to. For our country!
“There were cases of fraud that should be investigated,” she continued later that day. “But the legitimate margins of victory for Biden are far too wide to change the outcome. … We must accept these results.”
Although her Twitter still regularly leans to the right, Griffin doubled down on her Jan. 6 words while also bashing former White House Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Matthews in July.
“She [Matthews] believed in him [Trump] like millions of Americans. On 1/6 he let her & our entire country down,” Griffin wrote in a tweet.
Who is Ana Navarro?
Unlike Griffin, Navarro is a longtime political pundit who has appeared on cable news shows for close to two decades.
The Miami-based Republican has been a contributor on “The View” since 2013, and has been a guest co-host for the past four seasons, usually appearing on the panel once per week.
It’s unclear how often she will feature on the show now that she is a permanent co-host, but Daily Mail reports that she has inked a multi-year deal with ABC. As part of the deal, she will still be able to keep her other job as a CNN talking head.
Navarro — who is married to 74-year-old lawyer and lobbyist Al Cárdenas — was born to a wealthy family in Nicaragua, before emigrating to the US when she was 8 years old.
The outspoken brunette is a Republican, but leans left on social issues. She recently hit headlines for declaring that she was pro-life and that parents expecting babies with disabilities should have the option to abort them.
The star is a vociferous critic of former President Donald Trump and became embroiled in feud with his son, Donald Trump Jr., after he made a jibe about her weight.
She shot back describing him as “a dimwit, with no skill, or talent or significant accomplishments, living off your father’s fame and name and fortune.”
Who else was considered for the co-hosting gig?
Stephanie Grisham, Tara Setmayer, Michele Tafoya and others were candidates for the conservative seat at “The View’s” table, PrimeTimer reported.
Since McCain’s departure, producers also recruited Mia Love, Gretchen Carlson and Eboni K. Williams, among others to temporarily fill in. Execs eventually settled on Griffin and Navarro as the show’s right-wing voices.
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