The View is celebrating Election Day! The Hot Topics table got patriotic this morning as they chatted about the presidential candidates’ closing arguments and welcomed ABC News political correspondent Jonathan Karl to offer analysis ahead of tonight’s nail-biting results roll-in.
But before they could get to any discussion of the final campaign tactics from Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, the show turned its attention to Alyssa Farah Griffin in the first moments of today’s episode. The Republican View co-host and former Trump White House employee confessed that when she entered the voting booth, she did something she’s never done before in her life.
Griffin told her co-hosts she’s feeling “anxious” yet “hopeful” this morning, noting that on Election Day four years ago, she had been in the White House with Trump watching the election results come in, “when it became increasingly clear that he was going to lose.”
Griffin said she though Trump deserved to lose that evening because “he hadn’t fought to win the election,” but she had hopes that the Republican party would “rebuild” in the four years after his 2020 loss.
“It didn’t do that,” Griffin said. “So this weekend, on Saturday, for the first time in my life I voted for a Democrat.”
Her words were met with a hearty round of applause at the Hot Topics table and inside the studio as Griffin continued, “I voted for Kamala Harris, I then voted down ballot for Republicans. I consider my vote on loan to her. I’m worried about the direction Donald Trump will take this country, and I take my own warning seriously. What I saw is very real. I’m a Christian, I’m an American and I’m a Republican, in that order, and I need somebody that shares my values.”
Griffin’s commentary marked a significant shift from her remarks on the show in August 2023, during which she received flack from the panel after refusing to say she’d vote for Trump’s Democratic opponent.
At the time, Griffin said she “could absolutely never support Donald Trump again,” but noted that she also “probably” wouldn’t support President Joe Biden, who was the nominee before he dropped out of the race in July. “I’ll write someone in,” Griffin said, which irritated Sunny Hostin, who asked, “You don’t think your vote counts?” while Joy Behar wondered, “Why bother voting?”
Today, however, Griffin was firm in the importance of her vote for Harris.
“Today it’s about a brighter future, and I think the best thing for the country and the future of the Republican party is that Donald Trump lose and Kamala Harris is elected,” she proclaimed.
The View airs weekdays at 11/10c on ABC.