The months-long search for someone, anyone to fill the “conservative” seat on The View, vacated by former co-host Meghan McCain, ended Thursday with the poorly kept announcement that they would be hiring faux conservative Republican Alyssa Farah Griffin. But not only were they set to add one pretend right-winger to the coven, but they also doubled down and announced that rotational co-host Ana Navarro would be going full-time (eventually).
First to be announced in the latter half of the show, with a gushy video introduction, was clout chaser Farah Griffin. “Thank you. Thank you. If anyone had ever told me I would be sitting at a table with Whoopi Goldberg, I would have said, ‘you are crazy.’ It is such an honor to be with you ladies every day on this set, and it's particularly exciting for me today,” she said.
Farah Griffin said she was “honored” and opined about how “Barbara Walters had this vision for bringing women from totally different backgrounds, lived experiences, careers, to talk about the tough issues that, frankly, our elected officials often aren't tackling and we do that every day.”
The suggestion that The View should be the example for Congress was something of a theme for Farah Griffin:
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 [sic], doing so in a fact-based manner. We don't need any of these, you know, conspiracies and lies that have taken over so much of news.
And despite being born into a well-off family with many connections in Washington, D.C., which she utilized, Farah Griffin whined about her career path and was thankful The View was giving her a “voice.” “I was, you know, a president’s spokesperson, I was a vice president’s spokesperson, I was way too many Republican mens' of Congress spokesperson, but now it is my voice,” she said.
In reality, no one made her take those jobs.
There was also an awkward exchange between her and co-host Sunny Hostin where the latter warned the newbie they were going to be gunning for her:
FARAH GRIFFIN: And I'm here to just join this table, hopefully, bring a different perspective. Listen, it's going to get sporty sometimes, but I adore you women –
SUNNY HOSTIN: It’s going to get more than sporty.
FARAH GRIFFIN: It’s going to get more than sporty. And I'm so excited for it. I'm ready for it.
Co-host Joy Behar also chimed in by noting “I would imagine it's daunting for somebody to have a completely different point of view and have to sit here.” She then ridiculously proclaimed they don’t get “personal on this show.”
Their “other humongous announcement” was Navarro’s promotion. “Well, after many years, many hairstyles, many pounds up and down, and appearances as a guest, a contributor, Snow White, a guest co-host, we're finally putting a ring on it and making it official,” she quipped. “And first of all, I want to thank the very loyal View fans. I've read you. I've heard you. I've seen you and I thank you.”
Navarro then disclosed that it might be a while until she’ll be on the show full-time, as she has other contractual obligations and family matters to attend to first:
This is not the right time for me or for the show to make a full-time -- I have other work commitments. I have a life. I have a husband in Miami who I thank for understanding my absences. I have a very clingy dog. I have all these things I love in Miami. Leaving all that behind every week is tough, but I also love, love, love doing this show.
And despite being “on a plane at least four times a week” and spending “countless hours” on the road and away from home, Navarro said it was all worth it because “it's a huge, enormous, incomparable privilege to be part of a 25-year institution” that is The View.
“And whether people like it or not, whether some people acknowledge it or not, it is the relevance and the importance and the platform that The View represents,” she swiped at critics.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
ABC’s The View
August 4, 2022
11:40:57 a.m. EasternWHOOPI GOLDBERG: Welcome to the table.
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: Thank you. Thank you. If anyone had ever told me I would be sitting at a table with Whoopi Goldberg, I would have said, ‘you are crazy.’ It is such an honor to be with you ladies every day on this set, and it's particularly exciting for me today. My amazing husband Justin and brother-in-law are here.
[Applause]
Thank you for being here.
Listen. I was trying to come up with the word to describe how I feel about this, and honored is all that comes to mind. This show set out – as you all know – Barbara Walters had this vision for bringing women from totally different backgrounds, lived experiences, careers, to talk about the tough issues that, frankly, our elected officials often aren't tackling and we do that every day. And we're having important conversations.
I can't say how much I've learned from all of you, and I hope to learn from all of you, and I will say this. The last couple of years have been a bit turbulent for me, you know, you saw it in the preview there. I worked for an administration that I ended up speaking out against fervently and continue to daily. That changes a lot in your life. I lost a lot of friends. I'm estranged from family members. But I have to say this: I'm so proud to have found my voice.
I was, you know, a president’s spokesperson, I was a vice president’s spokesperson, I was way too many Republican mens' of Congress spokesperson, but now it is my voice. And I'm here to just join this table, hopefully bring a different perspective. Listen, it's going to get sporty sometimes, but I adore you women –
SUNNY HOSTIN: It’s going to get more than sporty.
FARAH GRIFFIN: It’s going to get more than sporty. And 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 [sic], doing so in a fact-based manner. We don't need any of these, you know, conspiracies and lies that have taken over so much of news.
And just thank you ladies. And thank you to the whole View team.
JOY BEHAR: Well, we're happy to have you here.
[Applause]
FARAH GRIFFIN: I'm so excited. I'm excited.
GOLDBERG: But, you know, it's never --
BEHAR: I would imagine it's daunting for somebody to have a completely different point of view and have to sit here. But we're not personal on this show.
GOLDBERG: We've never done this before on this show. Well, you're just going to have to wait until we come back. We will be making another humongous announcement when we come back.
(…)
11:51:29 a.m. Eastern
ANA NAVARRO [pointing at herself]: So here’s the other humongous announcement you said you were going to make?
[Laughter]
GOLDBERG: I told you. I knew.
BEHAR: She didn't mean it like that. Stop it.
GOLDBERG: No, she knows I didn't mean it like that.
[Crosstalk]
GOLDBERG: You do have the floor.
NAVARRO: Thank you, my dear.
Well, after many years, many hair styles, many pounds up and down, and appearances as a guest, a contributor, Snow White, a guest co-host, we're finally putting a ring on it and making it official.
[Applause]
And first of all, I want to thank the very loyal View fans. I've read you. I've heard you. I've seen you and I thank you.
[Applause]
I have -- This is not the right time for me or for the show to make a full-time -- I have other work commitments. I have a life. I have a husband in Miami who I thank for understanding my absences. I have a very clingy dog. I have all these things I love in Miami. Leaving all that behind every week is tough, but I also love, love, love doing this show. And I want to thank ABC, especially Brian Teda and Kim Godwin and her team –
BEHAR: Teta. Teta.
NAVARRO: In Spanish it doesn’t work that well.
[Laughter]
NAVARRO: So Brian – let me do my thing, man.
BEHAR: Okay. I’m sorry.
NAVARRO: I want to thank Kim Godwin and her team, Jose Andino, Derek Madena. I want to thak everybody.
I thought about it long and hard. As you all know, most weeks I'm on a plane at least four times a week and I spend countless hours on planes, at airports, in hotels. Sometimes it gets lonely. But I also know it's a huge, enormous, incomparable privilege to be part of a 25-year institution. And whether people like it or not, whether some people acknowledge it or not, it is the relevance and the importance and the platform that The View represents.
And I – and we at this table have spent a lot of time, a lot of time talking about representation and saying representation matters. And that means that when a little Latina immigrant girl born in Chinandega, Nicaragua who came to this country at the age of eight as a political refugee and found her home here, gets the opportunity and the chance to have a platform, you grab it with both hands.
GOLDBERG: Yes.
NAVARRO: And you run with it.
GOLDBERG: Yes.
