The View returned for its 28th season on Tuesday, and after they oohed and aahed over the show’s new studio, opening sequence, and theme song, the hosts discussed the presidential race. After everything that has transpired over the past few weeks, former Trump White House communications director (and Daily Beast contributor) Alyssa Farrah Griffin shared why, even though she’s “never voted for a democrat” before, she’s leaning towards Vice President Kamala Harris.
“[Harris] is running a flawless campaign,” Farah Griffin said, “She’s running really smart.” The moment of Harris’ campaign that’s stood out to her the most was the VP’s DNC speech. “I closed my eyes at one point and I was like, ‘This could be Mitt Romney speaking,’” she said of the positions Harris highlighted which were “closer to the center.”
“This is not how she ran in 2020 when she ran on some things that were more to the left,” Farah Griffin added.
In the show’s first segment, host Whoopi Goldberg pointed out that a lot had changed in the race since The View went off the air last month, as the Harris campaign has gained since the VP chose Tim Walz as her running mate.
Host Sunny Hostin told the studio audience “I feel hopeful right now” about the future of the country, while Haines echoed her sentiment and lauded both Harris and Walz’ families’ support: “How they love and how they are loved” brought tears to her eyes, she said of her reaction to the DNC. “To see this normalcy of family that’s presented in a very modern way: blended families, blended faith, a divorce and yet a thank you to [Doug Emhoff’s] ex-wife,” Haines said, was “a beautiful way of showing how you can handle life,” and added, “It was so warm.”
While already likely Democratic voters have expressed similar complementary views of the candidates and their families, Griffin pointed out that to win over other voters who “tend to vote for the jersey they wear,” Harris would need to express new views—and she thinks the VP delivered that during her DNC remarks.
“When she talked about supporting Israel’s right to defend itself, standing with Ukraine and allies—she does not support banning fracking, [as] there are other ways to address climate change but also care about the energy sector and the jobs that they create,” she said. “And she’s talking about on-shoring American jobs and rebuilding the middle class.”
Griffin added that Harris presented herself as a Democrat candidate she could get behind, even though she “wants to hear more” and wouldn’t say explicitly whether or not she’d actually vote Harris. That said, she couldn’t help but dish further praise for the VP’s campaign.
“[Harris] realizes the majority of this country is closer to the center, Donald Trump’s too far right and too extreme for them,” Griffin said. “If she keeps running this way for the next 60 plus days, I think she can pull it off.”
