Alyssa Farah Griffin and Donald Trump.Photo: Lisa Ferdinando/Department of Defense/AP; Patrick Semansky/AP
As the possibility ofDonald Trumpseekingreelection in 2024grows,Alyssa Farah Griffinis opening up about why she doesn’t think her former boss is fit to serve as the president of the United States.
Farah Griffin was Vice PresidentMike Pence’s press secretary and the youngest Pentagon press secretary in history before serving as White House director of strategic communications under President Trump. In July, PEOPLE learned she wasnamed a new co-hostonThe View, slated to represent the conservative perspectivewith Ana Navarro.
Speaking with PEOPLE, Farah Griffin says that while even though she worked for “one of the most, if notthemost divisive president in history,” she does not plan on emulating his style as a talk show host.
Farah Griffin explains that she was initially presented the opportunity to work directly under Trump in 2017 when he first took office. She declined, though, because she had “concerns about the man, who he was and the people around him.”
In April 2020, after working under both Pence and the Department of Defense, she accepted the role of director of strategic communications for the White House.
“I went back to the West Wing, which I’m sure in so many people’s minds define me, but they’re only part of who I am,” she tells PEOPLE. “And what I would say is I could spend rest of my life debating if I ever should have gone there, but I know the growth that came from it. I know the voice I found from working for Trump and realizing that he is not a man I could ever support being an office again.”
Alyssa Farah Griffin (R) onThe View.Lou Rocco/ABC/Getty
When asked if she would vote for Trump if his name ends up on the ballot in 2024 she said, “He is wholly unfit to be in office.”
She explains that she resigned from her post before the events of Jan. 6, 2021.
“When the election lies started being shared, I couldn’t put my name to it. I couldn’t put my conscience to it,” she says. “So I resigned. But I didn’t forcefully speak out until Jan. 6th, and I haven’t stopped since.”
She does, though, consider herself a “conservative Republican” and says while she is “no friend of Donald Trump’s” that “doesn’t mean I’m not extremely tied in in Republican politics.”
“I’m a conservative Republican. But not to get into policy,my party needs to change,” she says. “It needs to come into the 21st century. So I want to be part of fixing what the future of the Republican Party should be in casting behind us into the ash heap of history whatDonald Trumphas done to it.”
Despite her opinion of the former president, Farah Griffin wants people to know that she was “honored to work for Vice President Pence.”
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer.
“I’m a conservative. I agreed with probably 75% of his positions. I’ve been outspoken,” she says. “I have a different view on things like marriage equality, for example. But I know him to be a good man, a patriot, and a serious person.”
Season 26 ofThe Viewkicks off Sept. 6 on ABC (check local listings).
source: people.com
