Unlike Ana Navarro, Alyssa Farah Griffin is looking at the bright side of Donald Trump‘s second term as POTUS. On this morning’s episode of The View, the two Republican co-hosts shared their differing views on America’s future under Trump’s leadership.
Griffin, who has been critical of Trump ever since leaving his administration in 2020, said she’s going to “wait and see” how things go when Trump is sworn into office before she starts sounding any alarms.
“I’m somebody who probably agrees with 75% of his policies,” she admitted. “If he focuses on creating jobs, on bringing down the cost of living, securing the border in a responsible way, and being tough on America’s adversaries, I’m all for it. It doesn’t mean we’re not gonna call balls and strikes when he does things that are beyond the pale or he uses words that are offensive to people.”
The co-host, who repeatedly called Trump a “threat to democracy” leading up to the election, said she’s “shying away from this apocalyptic” view of her former boss.
“The American system of government is strong, it’s held. There are checks and balances even if my party is in control of the House, the Senate, and the presidency,” she added. “And I root for America, so I root for a smart, serious Donald Trump presidency. And I root for pushback when he doesn’t do things that are smart and serious.”
However, Navarro said she’s “not gonna wait and see” how things turn out.
“This guy has told us he’s a retribution, he’s going to be a dictator,” she said, as both Griffin and Whoopi Goldberg protested.
“There’s nothing to be done until you know what you’re fighting,” Goldberg fired back. “Pissing in the wind doesn’t help! You just get a wet face.”
Navarro then explained her position further, seemingly addressing Griffin’s optimistic attitude directly.
“What I’m saying is, I have no false expectations that at 78 he’s going to all of the sudden turn into a benevolent human being,” she said. “I spent weeks telling people that he was apocalyptic. I’m not going to change now because he’s still the same man. I think that’s when we lose credibility.”
Griffin hit back, promising she’s “not changing” her view — but she’s also “not treating every single thing like a fire alarm fire.” Meanwhile, Goldberg told Navarro why it’s best to wait until they have more information to formulate their responses.
“You lose credibility in many different ways,” she said. “If you don’t know what you’re talking about and you accuse him of something, then they’re gonna blow it back. That’s why I say we need to wait and see exactly what [he’s] gonna do.”
The View airs on weekdays at 11/10c on ABC.