Update (8/4/22 1:04 p.m. EST): It’s official! Alyssa Farah Griffin was announced as the new, permanent co-host of The View on Thursday, August 4. She was announced as an official co-host, alongside frequent guest co-host Ana Navarro. The ladies welcomed her to the “Hot Topics” table, and Alyssa said she was “honored” to be welcomed to the show. “I can’t say how much I’ve learned from all of you and I hope to learn from all of you,” she said. “I am here to just join this table, hopefully, bring a different perspective. Listen, it’s going to get sporty sometimes.”
Alyssa expressed what she was looking forward to for her time on the show. “I’m so excited for it. I’m ready for it. If there’s one thing I believe: it’s that there’s more that unites this country than divides it, and I think that we can demonstrate at this table what our elected leaders often can’t, which is disagreeing, but doing so respectively, doing so in a fact-based manner,” she said. “Thank you ladies, and thank you to the whole View team.”
Original: The search may be over! Alyssa Farah Griffin will reportedly become the fifth co-host of The View for its 26th season, according to Variety. The outlet reported that sources said that Alyssa, 33, will likely be named as the show’s new host, nearly a year after Meghan McCain said her final goodbye to the show in August 2021. Throughout the 25th season, a variety of different conservative voices joined the ladies at the Hot Topics table to see how the chemistry was among the co-hosts, including Alyssa. The former political advisor has been a frequent presence throughout the latest season and will reportedly join the table permanently in September. Find out everything you need to know about Alyssa here!
1. Alyssa was an advisor to Trump
While it may shock some people given what other co-hosts have said about him, Alyssa worked as an advisor to former President Donald Trump for a stretch in 2020. While she’s had a wide array of positions in Washington, her most notable time was when she served as the White House Director of Strategic Communications from April 2020 to December 2020. That wasn’t her only job under Trump; she was also appointed a special assistant to him in 2017, and she also served as the press secretary for the Department of Defense from September 2019, until she took on her White House role.
2. She’s been a commentator for CNN and ‘The Hill’
A graduate from Patrick Henry College’s journalism program, it should come as no surprise that Alyssa has a strong journalistic background. While she has plenty of experience in Washington and having guest co-hosted The View plenty of times in the past season, she has also worked with some of the largest media organizations reporting on politics. She served as a co-host for The Hill’s online show Rising. After leaving the White House, she was also brought on as a political commentator for CNN in December 2021, as reported by Mediate.
3. She worked with many more Republican politicians before Trump
While Trump is clearly the biggest name that she worked for, Alyssa served in a variety of political roles before taking a job at the White House. Early in her career, she served as a press secretary for then-North Carolina Rep. Mark Meadows, who later became Trump’s chief of staff. She was also the conservative Freedom Caucus’ Communications Director. Before taking on her communications job under Trump, she served as the press secretary for former Vice President Mike Pence when she was also a special assistant to the president.
4. She’s since flipped her views on Trump
While Alyssa still identifies herself as a Republican, she’s sought to distance herself from Trump, and she’s disavowed him, especially in light of the January 6 attack on the Capitol. While rioters invaded the building, she tweeted calling for him to tell the insurrectionists to stop. “Condemn this now, @realDonaldTrump – you are the only one they will listen to. For our country!” she wrote at the time. It’s also been revealed that during the attack, she texted Meadows and said, “If someone doesn’t say something, people will die,” per The Washington Post.
Most of all, she’s sworn against voting for Trump again if he makes another run for the White House during the next presidential election, per Newsweek. “If he’s a Republican candidate in 2024, yes, I will not be supporting Donald Trump in 2024,” she said during an appearance on MSNBC in May 2021.
5. She got married to Justin Griffin in 2021
Politics aside, Alyssa tied the knot with her husband Justin Griffin in November 2021. After the wedding, she shared an adorably photo of her and her hubby, speaking about what a great day that she had. “Best day of my life, marrying my best friend,” she wrote in her Instagram caption.
While saying “I do,” may have been Alyssa’s “best day,” it wasn’t drama-free. She revealed that her own dad Joseph Farah, who’s a conservative journalist himself, had skipped out on the ceremony after she disavowed Trump, during a February appearance on The View. “I had to deal with two people very close to me—my father and step-mother—who didn’t want to attend my wedding [because of] political differences after I spoke out against President Trump,” she said, before noting that they didn’t attend.