Alyssa Farah Griffin is already one month into her permanent hosting gig on The View and she is opening up about what it’s like working alongside her “highly opinionated” co-hosts.
The host, who formerly worked under the Trump administration albeit has continually denounced the former president since resigning from her position in December 2020, is oftentimes the sole Republican at the table. Since coming on full-time last month, she told USA Today that she’s “getting a lot more comfortable.”
“We have five women at a table who are highly opinionated, never have a shortage of things to say, and to make sure that you’re able to get in with your viewpoint, it’s a learning curve,” she said. “So I’m taking cues from the other women.”
Griffin, who’s frequently grilled by Sunny Hostin during heated Hot Topics debates, calls her co-host “extremely assertive,” adding that “it’s something she has a real talent for, and I see how she commands a table and commands the audience.” And while fans of The View have blasted Hostin for being a “mean girl,” Griffin assured that there is no behind-the-scenes drama.
“We can have very heated debates on the stage, but I’ve seen every woman that I work with able to leave the disagreement at the table and then go back to connecting on a human level,” she said. “Sometimes we laugh backstage because we’ll see a headline, ‘So and so is feuding,’ and we’re like, ‘That’s just not happening.'”
As for often being associated with the Trump administration, particularly by Hostin who recently called her “complicit,” Griffin credits her “reptilian-thick skin” for getting her through the tough topics.
“If things are lobbed at me, I can defend my career, I can defend the policies I’ve worked on, I can defend my viewpoint,” she said, admitting that no one has been “attacked” by Trump more than her except “maybe Joy [Behar].”
However, whatever happens during the show, Griffin said her past “ends up opening up good conversations.”
The View airs on weekdays at 11/10c on ABC.
