MSNBC’s Tiffany Cross flamed ABC for appointing former Trump White House communications director Alyssa Farah Griffin as a new co-host on “The View,” adding that the TV deal speaks to the larger issue of media pandering to “racist white people” since 2016.
“Now, remember, in 2016, after many, many members of the news media helped usher in this lunatic into the White House, the takeaway for many executives was, ‘Guys, we in the news didn’t pay enough attention to racist white people,’” Cross began on Saturday’s edition of “The Cross Connection.”
“That’s how we got those ridiculous terms like white economic anxiety and those voters of the Heartland segments with a bunch of white Midwesterners and coffee shops that have never seen folks who look like this right here,” she went on. “Then there were all the deep dives in the Trump country and print profiles of Trump supporters.”
To Cross, Griffin’s hiring indicates that little has changed. Earlier this week, multiple sources reported that the CNN political commentator and former press secretary for Mike Pence is joining the daytime talk show in September. Griffin will purportedly fill the “conservative spot” vacated by Meghan McCain last August.
Though ABC has yet to issue a formal announcement of Griffin’s hiring, “Let’s please not forget that this tawdry turncoat Trump loyalist quickly morphed into an opportunist after voluntarily taking jobs with the Trump administration,” Cross said, adding that Griffin “rode his wave of open xenophobia and racism all the way to network television.”
In addition to serving as a Trump aide, Griffin wrote for WorldNetDaily, the far-right conspiracy website founded by her father Joseph Farah. Cross said Griffin “supported efforts” of Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, and refused to condemn Trump for telling the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by” in 2020.
Cross also deemed Griffin an “election denier.” On Nov. 3, 2020, Griffin expressed support of a vote recount in Pennsylvania and suggested that officials had attempted to interfere with the results.
Following her resignation in December of that year, Griffin made efforts to distance herself the Trump administration. In the aftermath of the Jan. 6 insurrection, she tweeted at her former boss to “Condemn this now” and later stated that “We must accept these results.”
“Ain’t nobody impressed with that. That was a convenient thing to do,” Cross remarked.
Cross’ biggest beef is why the media is so easily willing to not just forgive, but “normalize” figures like Griffin.
“So as we watch these people, who think a feigned apology is accountability, get rewarded with TV deals, book deals and stints with ‘Dancing on the Stars’ like you see there,” she said, referencing former White House press secretary Sean Spicer competing on the dance show. “It is so clear to us that many in the media are still trying to normalize these folks.”
