It’s a question that’s long been asked: Why does a television program pitched as a forum for different viewpoints present a generally singular perspective? Perhaps it’s to keep friction to a minimum. And to be fair, ABC’s talk hit is called The View, not “The Views.”
Still, the show does usually include one lone lady who veers at least slightly from the other leftwing three. Apropos of equity, The View recently welcomed Alyssa Farah Griffin as a representative Republican.
What kind of Republican is she? Well, she served as White House Director of Strategic Communications and Assistant to the President in 2020 — while Donald Trump was in office.
And she had this to say to People last month:
“[I] could spend the rest of my life debating if I ever should have gone [to the White House], but I know the growth that came from it. I know the voice I found from working for Trump and realizing that he is not a man I could ever support being in office again.”
To be clear:
“He is wholly unfit to be in office.”
Alyssa is also the kind of Republican that might vote for a Democrat. She said so on Monday’s installment of her new major-network home.
Amid discussion about the state of politics, Whoopi Goldberg asked, “Is it time for a third party?”
According to Republican Alyssa, very possibly:
“I think it might be. Because I think that the way that parties are structured now in the primary system, we don’t elect the most qualified people.”
The way she sees it, a party’s “base” is defined by those who think differently than most in the party:
“We elect the people who cater the most to the base — which is the minority of both parties — rather than people who are most likely to want to get things done, to work across the aisle.”
She’s halfway on board with House January 6th Committee Vice Chair Liz Cheney:
“I’ll say this: I agree about halfway with Liz Cheney. I will, full stop, never support an election denier. I still want to work from within the Republican Party.”
We’re all consumed, but relief is on the way:
“I believe politics is cyclical. And the Donald Trump moment — which has consumed all of us for so long — will eventually come to an end. And I hope to influence the party from within.”
She insisted, “The Donald Trump party is not a conservative party. It’s a populous, nationalist rightwing party that I have about as much in common with as I do Bernie Sanders.”
Nationalism, of course, is (per Merriam-Webster) a point of view which “[exalts] one nation above all others and [places] primary emphasis on promotion of its culture and interests as opposed to those of other nations.” That used to describe the professed bipartisan aim of American government. But evidently, times have changed.
Alyssa asserted the GOP is opposed to legal immigration:
“[I] want to get back to something where we’re pro-free trade, pro-globalization, for legal immigration into the country — securing the border but with legal immigration. And that’s just not what we are now.”
Given that, she’s entirely open to voting Democrat:
“As far as supporting Democrats, I’d be able to on a case-by-case basis. I’d have to look at their policies. And that’s kind of where I am.”
So goes the portrait of a reasonable Republican — in the vein of Joe Scarborough, Nicolle Wallace, and The View frequenter Ana Navarro.
Speaking to People, Alyssa explained why she took a job at The View after working for “one of the most, if not the most divisive president in history”:
“I walked away committed to feeling in my bone that I want to be part of solutions, not adding to the division. So rather than go on hyper-partisan TV, where I’m just going to agree with everyone around me, I want to have a really thoughtful conversation with really smart Democrats, like former federal prosecutor Sunny Hostin; someone who knows her stuff. She is so far left of me, but I know we’re going to have thoughtful, serious conversations.”
Might a Big Three network ever substantially spotlight an outspoken Trump supporter? It isn’t likely. To be fair to The View, had they done so rather than hiring Alyssa, the show would’ve likely been reamed for rightwing extremism.
-ALEX
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