The View Taps Alyssa Farah Griffin to Fill Meghan McCain's Seat

After an exhaustive 10-month search, The View is set to name Alyssa Farah Griffin as its permanent fifth co-host, Variety reported on Tuesday. The former Trump staffer will fill the conservative seat vacated by Meghan McCain, who left the show in August 2021.

Sources close to the show tell Variety that a deal has not yet been signed, but the official announcement is expected in the coming weeks.

When reached for comment, an ABC spokesperson told Primetimer, "We do not have a co-host announcement to make at this time. Stay tuned."

Griffin’s hiring comes as no surprise. The ex-Trump official appeared more than any other guest co-host throughout Season 25 and quickly made a name for herself by disavowing her former boss, criticizing Fox News, and sparring with other Republicans, including Kellyanne Conway.

At 32 years old, Griffin brings a younger perspective to the table, and after getting married in the fall, she’s eagerly contributed to lighter Hot Topics discussions about sex and relationships.

Griffin came up in the ranks of conservative politics — her father is Joseph Farah, editor-in-chief of far-right conspiracy website WorldNetDaily — before serving as press secretary for Vice President Mike Pence and Special Assistant to President Donald Trump from October 2017 to September 2019.

She briefly served as Press Secretary for the Department of Defense before being hired as the White House Director of Strategic Communications in April 2020, and she served in the role until resigning on December 4, 2020.

In her first appearance on The View, in October 2021, Griffin said she resigned after Trump escalated his efforts to overturn the results of the presidential election, explaining, "I had a duty, first and foremost, to the country to tell the truth."

Griffin joins a panel of The View veterans that includes moderator Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, and Sara Haines, with Ana Navarro filling in regularly as guest co-host. She will make her permanent View debut when the show returns from its summer hiatus on Tuesday, September 6.

The View airs weekdays at 11:00 AM ET on ABC, with new episodes running through Friday, August 5.

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Claire Spellberg Lustig is the Senior Editor at Primetimer and a scholar of The View. Follow her on Twitter at @c_spellberg.