Alyssa Farah Griffin Explained

Alyssa Farah Griffin
Office:3rd White House Director of Strategic Communications
President:Donald Trump
Term Start:April 7, 2020
Term End:December 4, 2020
Predecessor:Mercedes Schlapp
Successor:Position eliminated (2021)
Office1:Press Secretary of the Department of Defense
President1:Donald Trump
Term Start1:September 2019
Term End1:April 7, 2020
Predecessor1:Dana White
Successor1:John Kirby
Office2:Press Secretary to the Vice President
Vicepresident2:Mike Pence
Term Start2:October 2017
Term End2:September 2019
Predecessor2:Marc Lotter
Successor2:Katie Waldman
Birth Name:Alyssa Farah
Birth Date:15 June 1989
Birth Place:Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Party:Republican
Father:Joseph Farah
Education:Patrick Henry College (BA)

Alyssa Farah Griffin (;[1] born June 15, 1989) is an American political strategist and television personality. She was the White House Director of Strategic Communications and Assistant to the President in 2020 during the presidency of Donald Trump. In addition to appearing on CNN as a commentator, she is a co-host of the talk show The View, for which she received a nomination for a Daytime Emmy Award.

Griffin was press secretary for U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and Special Assistant to President Donald Trump from October 2017 to September 2019. In 2019, she was appointed the youngest press secretary of The Pentagon in history.[2] She served as Deputy Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs and the Press Secretary for the United States Department of Defense from 2019 to 2020.[3] [4] [5]

Early life

Griffin was born on June 15, 1989, in Los Angeles.[6] Her father, Joseph Farah, is a journalist of Syrian and Lebanese descent who was executive news editor at the Los Angeles Herald Examiner before moving to Northern California to become editor of The Sacramento Union in 1990. He later founded the far-right website WorldNetDaily. Her mother Judy (Smagula) is a Sacramento-based journalist who has written for HuffPost, the Associated Press, and Comstock's.[7] [8] Griffin describes herself as having been "raised in the right-wing media".[9]

After graduating from Bella Vista High School in 2007, Griffin earned a bachelor's degree in Journalism and Public Policy from Patrick Henry College.[10]

Career

Before 2014, Griffin wrote articles for her father's far-right website WorldNetDaily, where she served as a "special Washington correspondent for WND."[7] [11] In 2010, Griffin was a media intern for Congressman Tom McClintock and began a one-year position as an associate producer on The Laura Ingraham Show.[12] In the 2012 Presidential election cycle, Griffin was the spokesperson for the College Republican National Committee, traveling the country discussing the youth vote. In 2014, she was named Press Secretary for Congressman Mark Meadows; she was later named as his Communications Director. She went on to work as the Communications Director for the Freedom Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives, serving under Jim Jordan and Mark Meadows.[13]

In September 2017, she was appointed Special Assistant to the President and Press Secretary to Vice President Mike Pence. As Press Secretary to the Vice President, she traveled with Pence on numerous trips, domestic and foreign, and was part of the official U.S. delegations to the Munich Security Conference and ASEAN Summit.[14]

In September 2019, Griffin became Press Secretary for the United States Department of Defense, after the role had been vacant for nearly a year. She was also appointed Director of Media Affairs.[15] In this role, Griffin was the chief spokesperson for the Department.

In April 2020, it was reported that Meadows, by then Trump's Chief of Staff, had considered bringing Griffin on as a White House Press Secretary.[16] She joined the White House Office as the White House Director of Strategic Communications on April 7, 2020.[17] In August 2020, The Washington Post reported that Griffin played an important role in shaping the Trump administration's coronavirus response.[18]

Griffin resigned as White House communications director on December 3, 2020, effective the next day. At the time it was reported she planned to start a consulting firm "focusing on the corporate, political and defense realms" and that she had initially planned to leave before the election according to one person speaking anonymously.[19]

The day before January 6, 2021, United States Capitol attack, Griffin publicly condemned Trump supporters for harassing Senator Mitt Romney.[20] She denounced the attack,[21] and days later, on January 8, blamed Trump for inciting the attack and suggested that he should resign.[22] [23]

In a February 7, 2021, interview on CNN, Griffin questioned the constitutionality of the second impeachment of Donald Trump and stated she believed censuring would be more appropriate. When asked if she would support censure after the impeachment if it fails, she said it was "an open question" before recommending the country should "move on" from the Capitol raid.[24]

In February 2021, Griffin became a visiting fellow with the Independent Women's Forum.[25] In June 2021, Griffin co-authored an editorial with Johanna Maska, who served as President Obama's Director of Press Advance. In the editorial, which was published by USA Today, the two discuss the need to overcome the political divide in the U.S.[26]

Griffin voluntarily spoke to the January 6 House select committee several times in 2021.[27] In December 2021, CNN revealed that Griffin was the author of a text to former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows calling for Donald Trump to condemn the attack saying “people will die.”[28] In June 2022, Griffin revealed that Trump stated privately several times in November 2020 that he had lost the 2020 election and she related that once while watching Biden on television, Trump said "Can you believe I lost to this guy?"[29]

On July 27, 2022, she said the Justice Department had not contacted her regarding its investigation into January 6.[30] During her testimony to the January 6 select committee in September 2022, Cassidy Hutchinson claimed that Griffin agreed to act as her backchannel so she could avoid letting her attorney Stefan Passantino, a Trump loyalist, know that she was giving additional testimony.[31] [32]

In 2021, Griffin joined CNN as a political contributor.[33] Griffin was appointed a fellow of the Georgetown Institute of Politics and Public Service for Spring 2022.[34] In 2022, Griffin became a permanent co-host of the talk show The View for the series's 26th season after making several guest appearances throughout 2021 and 2022;[35] [36] In 2024, she received a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Daytime Talk Series Host nomination for her work.[37]

Personal life

In 2019, Griffin was a victim of an impersonation scam using her name to target members of Congress, and that the matter was under investigation by the FBI.[38]

In 2020, Griffin became engaged to Justin Griffin, a graduate of the New York University Stern School of Business and a grandson of Samuel A. Tamposi.[39] They were married in November 2021.[40] In 2022, Griffin revealed on The View that members of her family, including her father and step-mother, boycotted her wedding because of her differences with Trump.[41]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Griffin says her own name while posing a question to Adam Schiff on the July 24, 2024 episode of The View.
  2. News: Farah resigns as White House communications director in tacit nod to Trump's loss. The Washington Post. Ashley . Parker . August 1, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20201206233734/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-farah-resign/2020/12/03/1623fa7a-3598-11eb-a997-1f4c53d2a747_story.html . December 3, 2020 . December 6, 2020 . 0190-8286.
  3. Web site: Collins . Kaitlan . Alyssa Farah, Pence press secretary, expected to move to Pentagon . cnn.com . August 14, 2019 . April 7, 2020.
  4. Web site: Alyssa Farah > U.S. Department of Defense > Biography. defense.gov.
  5. Web site: Top Pence aide to become Pentagon press secretary. msn.com. March 8, 2020.
  6. Web site: Birthday of the Day: Alyssa Farah, press secretary for Vice President Pence. Lippman. Daniel. Politico. June 15, 2019 . March 8, 2020.
  7. News: Inside the spectacular fall of the granddaddy of right-wing conspiracy sites. Roig-Franzia. Manuel. April 2, 2019. The Washington Post. March 31, 2020.
  8. Web site: Nussbaum. Matthew. Sherman. Jake. Pence taps top Freedom Caucus aide as press secretary. https://web.archive.org/web/20170920221206/https://www.politico.com/story/2017/09/18/alyssa-farah-mike-pence-press-secretary-242844 . September 20, 2017 . September 18, 2017 . Politico.
  9. Web site: Klein. Charlotte. Alyssa Farah Griffin, the Ex-Trump Aide, Wants to Be America's Household Conservative. Vanity Fair. limited. May 16, 2022. August 5, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220612032616/https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/05/alyssa-farah-griffin-the-ex-trump-aide-americas-household-conservative. June 12, 2022. live.
  10. Web site: Alyssa Farah > U.S. Department of Defense > Biography. defense.gov. March 8, 2020.
  11. Web site: Pence's Press Secretary Is Daughter Of Right-Wing Conspiracy Site's Founder. Krepel. Terry. HuffPost. December 20, 2017.
  12. Web site: Santiago. Ellyn. January 6, 2019. Alyssa Farah: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know. March 8, 2020. Heavy.com.
  13. Web site: Pence taps top Freedom Caucus aide as press secretary. Nussbaum. Matthew. Sherman. Jake. Politico. September 18, 2017 .
  14. News: Top Pence aide will move to Pentagon as new press secretary. Ashley. Parker. Washington Post. April 2, 2019.
  15. News: Top Pence Aide Heading to the Pentagon to be Chief Spokeswoman . The Washington Post.
  16. Web site: Mark Meadows considers new White House press secretary. Treene. Jonathan Swan,Alayna. Axios. April 3, 2020. April 3, 2020.
  17. News: McGraw . Meredith . Kayleigh McEnany replaces Grisham as White House press secretary . April 7, 2020 . . April 7, 2020 . Cook . Nancy .
  18. News: August 8, 2020. The lost days of summer: How Trump struggled to contain the virus. The Washington Post. Rucker . Philip . Philip Rucker. Yasmeen Abutaleb . . Robert Costa.
  19. News: Parker . Ashley . December 3, 2020 . Farah resigns as White House communications director in tacit nod to Trump's loss . . August 4, 2022.
  20. Web site: Castronuovo. Celine. January 6, 2021. Former White House official says Trump supporters harassing Romney 'beneath us as a country'. June 14, 2021. The Hill.
  21. Web site: 'For our country!': Trump world pleads with the president to condemn storming of the Capitol. August 1, 2021. Politico. January 6, 2021 .
  22. News: January 8, 2020 . Former Trump communications director says President lied about 2020 election and should consider resigning . .
  23. Fossett, Katelyn, 'I Stepped Down Because I Saw Where This Was Heading' (interview), Politico, January 7, 2021.
  24. Television broadcast . Pamela Brown and Alyssa Farah . February 7, 2021 . Trump's ex-communications director has advice ahead of trial . CNN .
  25. Web site: February 26, 2021. IWF Welcomes Alyssa Farah To The Team. February 26, 2021. Independent Women's Forum.
  26. Web site: Alyssa . Farah . Johanna . Maska . Johanna Maska . One worked for Trump. The other for Obama. This is their advice on unifying the country. . June 11, 2021. June 14, 2021. USA Today.
  27. Web site: Polantz . Katelyn . Nobles . Ryan . Reid . Paula . Cohen . Zachary . October 23, 2021 . Former DOJ official who pushed baseless election fraud claims expected to testify before January 6 committee . July 30, 2022 . CNN.
  28. Web site: December 14, 2021 . Former White House official reveals she sent 'people are going to die' Jan. 6 text to Meadows . December 21, 2021 . Washington Examiner .
  29. News: Staff . Ex-Trump aide says Trump admitted privately that he lost the election – CNN Video (00:50) . June 19, 2022 . . June 19, 2022 .
  30. Web site: Duster . Chandelis . July 27, 2022 . DOJ has reached out to more former White House officials, ex-Trump official says . July 30, 2022 . CNN.
  31. News: Transcripts of Cassidy Hutchinson's depositions with the House January 6 committee. CNN. December 22, 2022. December 22, 2022.
  32. News: Cassidy Hutchinson: 'Trump world' lawyer told her to skirt Jan. 6 questions – live updates. Bart. Jansen. Ella. Lee. Donovan. Slack. Swapna Venugopal. Ramaswamy. Josh. Meyer. Ken. Tran. USA Today. December 22, 2022. December 22, 2022.
  33. Web site: Walsh. Savannah. 'The View' Will Reportedly Name Ex-Trump Aide Alyssa Farah Griffin as New Cohost. Vanity Fair. limited. July 27, 2022. August 5, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220727161601/https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/07/the-view-will-reportedly-name-ex-trump-aide-alyssa-farah-griffin-as-new-co-host. July 27, 2022. live.
  34. Web site: Current Fellows. Georgetown Institute of Politics and Public Service.
  35. Web site: 'The View' Names Ana Navarro and Alyssa Farah Griffin as Co-Hosts for Season 26. Wagmeister. Elizabeth. August 4, 2022. Variety. August 4, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220805014916/https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/the-view-to-name-ana-navarro-alyssa-farah-griffin-as-co-hosts-for-season-26-1235332894/. August 5, 2022. live.
  36. Nolfi . Joey . September 6, 2022 . 'The View' returns with new chairs for season 26 after Joy Behar fall . September 8, 2022 . Entertainment Weekly.
  37. Web site: Robinson. KiMi. 2024 Daytime Emmys: List of nominees, including Dick Van Dyck, more. USA Today. April 18, 2024. May 22, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240430083718/https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2024/04/18/daytime-emmy-awards-2024-nominations-list/73378046007/. April 30, 2024. live.
  38. News: Bender. Michael C.. January 5, 2019. FBI Investigating Fake Texts Sent to GOP House Members. The Wall Street Journal. June 14, 2021. 0099-9660.
  39. News: August 2, 2020 . Engagement: Farah-Griffin . Union Leader. August 2, 2020 .
  40. Web site: 'The View' co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin biography. ABC News. August 4, 2022. August 5, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220805024234/https://abcnews.go.com/theview/view-host-alyssa-farah-griffin-biography/story?id=87884186. August 5, 2022. live.
  41. News: Ex-Trump Aide: Dad Boycotted My Wedding After I Spoke Out Against Former President . Lee. Moran. February 12, 2022.