Some Republicans are competing to be the sole conservative co-host of ABC’s The View after co-host Meghan McCain left at the end of last season. Monday, it was former White House press secretary for Mike Pence Alyssa Farah’s turn as guest co-host. But even though she criticized President Trump for his “Muslim ban” and January 6 riot, she was irredeemable to the liberal co-hosts, who badgered and berated her for working for the Trump White House at all.
In fact the entire first segment of the show resembled a struggle session. Each host took turns bullying their fellow host and she unfortunately validated their browbeating. Whoopi Goldberg had the first question and sympathized, “I can't imagine what life must have been like for you,” before asking what made her want to leave. Farah explained that she viewed her role as a public servant serving the country despite how “challenging” it was to work in that environment. But Sunny Hostin wanted to rake Farah over the coals, leading to his awkward exchange:
SUNNY HOSTIN: I have to say, though, when I think about it, you join in April 2020, that's four years in, we know who he was, how do you do that?
ALYSSA FARAH: [nervous laughter] So I did --
HOSTIN: Right?
FARAH: It's a fair point.
HOSTIN: It's a fair question, you know who this person is, he's the person that's grab them by the you-know-what and you're working for him.
FARAH: I didn’t have any illusion about who the president was. I should go back further. I was Vice President Pence's Press Secretary for two years, so I was tangentially working with the Trump WH. Different building but serving a very different man.
HOSTIN: You're not working for Darth Vader but you're a Stormtrooper.
FARAH: [chuckles] That is actually very well said….
Despite caving to their criticism, Farah tried to defend herself, saying she believed strongly in Trump’s economic and national security agenda (despite flaws like the “Muslim ban” and “bigoted” border policies, she qualified).
After telling a personal story about a middle class family member who benefited from Trump’s economic agenda, Whoopi griped they must’ve benefited off of poor people. “But on who’s back? That’s my question,” she lectured, as Farah agreed with the “fair” censure.
Hostin jumped in again to berate their guest. “100,000 people died during a pandemic that didn’t have to!,” she complained.
Sara Haines also grilled Farah with, “[A]t what point along your seven months did you say, this is, like, this is bad, I can't do this?”
The former Pence press secretary explained that Trump’s rhetoric around denying the election results was what caused her to resign and told the View hosts she didn’t vote for him in 2016, which was a small relief to them. Whoopi griped that she wished ex-Trump staff would’ve spoke out during his administration after he gave the whole country “PTSD.”
Imagine how much more of a train wreck this would’ve been if Joy Behar had been present!
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Read the transcript below:
The View
10/4/21
WHOOPI GOLDBERG: I can't imagine what life must have been like for you, but you eventually got out of there, what -- what did it, what made you say, oh this-no.
ALYSSA FARAH:….Let me honest with you, it was extremely challenging. You have a sense of what was it like in there, lot of the books are accurate, some aren't, I strongly believe in public service, if I Democrat administration or a Republican I would said yes and go in. I always gave my best counsel to the president, sometimes that met being the skunk at the garden party. But that's the job, the job we sign up for and I went in knowing any day I could be fired, or let go at will, my duty was to serve the American public and serve the country and I did my best to do that.
SUNNY HOSTIN: I have to say, though, when I think about it, you join in April 2020, that's four years in, we know who he was, how do you do that?
ALYSSA FARAH: [nervous laughter] So I did --
HOSTIN: Right?
FARAH: It's a fair point.
HOSTIN: It's a fair question, you know who this person is, he's the person that's grab them by the you-know-what and you're working for him.
FARAH: I didn’t have any illusion about who the president was. I should go back further. I was Vice President Pence's Press Secretary for two years, so I was tangentially working with the Trump WH. Different building but serving a very different man.
HOSTIN: You're not working for Darth Vader but you're a Stormtrooper.
FARAH: [nervous laughter] That is actually very well said. I will say this I believed strongly in his economic agenda, I believed in his national security agenda, my background is national defense. I believe now under Biden we're seeing the challenges of not having a strong national defense. But i had no illusions about the man who Donald Trump was.
My challenge was Pov, if not me then who? I don't think it could have been a good thing to have a federal government for four years once Donald Trump was commander in chief, staffed by Steve Bannons or Steve Bannon miniatures. I think having people of good conscience who believe in public service, who believe in working with Democrats, working with independents in those roles is a good thing not a bad thing. I've got to say this, 74 million Americans voted for Donald Trump. He didn't win. He did not win to anybody who has any concerns about that. But most of those people are good, honest, hardworking people who love this country, who voted for certain aspects of his agenda, usually I think is the economic agenda to be honest. one thing I would note, lot of my family would say is middle class, under Trump I know one family member in particular their 401(k) Went up 24%, that is a real investment in their retirement.
WHOOPI GOLDBERG: But on who's on back?
FARAH: No, that's fair.
GOLDBERG: That's the question. I'm sorry.
FARAH: No that's fair. We did prioritize. So I give a lot of credit to some of the smart staff around Donald Trump, so Larry Kudlow, was someone who I believed in a lot, Andrew Olman, who’s actually his deputy, these are smart Bush-era pollicy makers that tried to create the most inclusive economy in American history, we got there but the problem was, you couldn't get away from things like the Muslim ban or what looked like bigoted policies on the border .
SUNNY HOSTIN: 100,000 people died during a pandemic that didn’t have to!
SARA HAINES: Alyssa, I have a question, you mentioned that this was a dream job opportunity, you also said you had a calling to serve when asked, at what point along your seven months did you say, this is, like, this is bad, I can't do this?
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