After months — years even — of sometimes frantically commenting on the current state of U.S. politics, the hosts of The View were surprisingly subdued on Tuesday’s (November 5) Election Day edition of the show. When prompted by moderator Whoopi Goldberg to share how they were feeling, each of the panelists had a different perspective to share.
First up was Alyssa Farah Griffin, a lifelong Republican and former member of the Donald Trump administration, who finally decided to share her vote with the crowd: “Four years ago today, I was in the White House with Donald Trump on election night. I was there standing next to one of his cabinet officials when Arizona was called for Joe Biden, and when it became increasingly clear that he was going to lose, and I believed he deserved to lose that night,” she remembered. “At that point, I thought he hadn’t sought to win the election, but I thought the next four years would be the Republican Party rebuilding and becoming something I could believe in, and turning the page onto Donald Trump. And it didn’t do that. So this weekend, on Saturday, for the first time in my life, I voted for a Democrat.”
Griffin went on to explain that while she is still a conservative, she believed it was the right thing to do. “I don’t agree with a lot of her policies. We can criticize those down the road, but today, it’s about a brighter future, and I think the best thing for the country and the future of the Republican Party is that Donald Trump lose and Kamala Harris is elected.”
“For the first time in my life, I voted for a Democrat.”@AlyssaFarah Griffin on her decision to vote for Kamala Harris: “I think the best thing for the future of the country and the future of the Republican Party is that Donald Trump will lose and Kamala Harris is elected.” pic.twitter.com/NZR5FxYQmq
— The View (@TheView) November 5, 2024
Sunny Hostin also revealed her decision to vote for Harris alongside her mother, adding, “I’m feeling — like the Harris campaign has said — nauseously optimistic. Because I actually was in Pennsylvania on Sunday — because pundits are saying that Pennsylvania is a make-or-break state, whoever wins that state is likely to win the election — and I was very encouraged by what I saw, especially in Allentown, Pennsylvania, with a majority of Puerto Ricans, Latinos, they are going to take the trash out today.”
Joy Behar echoed that sentiment … sort of: “Well, I’m also nauseously optimistic. Whatever happens, I feel like we’re in a very historic moment. You either will have the first woman president or a convicted felon. And so it’s historic in that way,” she said. She then went on to criticize Trump for apparently “simulating a sex act” on a microphone at a rally and joked, “He seems to be going down further and further, and not just on that microphone.” She then went on to explain her optimism about the results, saying, “I believe the American woman and a lot of the guys, too, I have to say.”
Sara Haines then revealed she was “feeling a sense of calm,” explaining, “I can’t describe why that is. It’s not something I read or something I saw, but whenever the world gets crazy around me, I stop and I just ground myself, and I felt a sense of peace. I can’t describe what it is, but I feel good right now.” She then went on to praise Griffin for her vote, saying, “I think of it less as you voting for a Democrat, more for you voting for a democracy, for a constitution… you did the right thing, and I commend you for that.”
She added that this hyperspeed-style election bout between Harris and Trump has given her another reason to be optimistic. “So many of us are nervous, not only mainly for the results of the election but also for what comes next, a coming together of people. What Vice President Harris has done in three months is beyond unprecedented, from the money she raised to the coalition she has brought together to the fact that this election is as nerve-wracking as it is. She did that in three months,” she explained, adding that she hopes future election cycles are also abbreviated. “I’m ready for hope. I’m ready for change. I need I’m motivated by positive feelings, and I’m really sick of hearing the day-to-day news cycle where we’re having to discuss the things that come out,” she added.
Goldberg, too, had a moment of zen, saying, “Listen, there’s nothing I can do about anything until I know what there is something to do something about. So I am not going to give any more angst or uncomfortableness, but I will point something out, and I’m, I’m reluctant to do it, but I have to, and that is this, when you when we showed that piece of him with the microphone yesterday, it bothered me all day, and I couldn’t figure out why, and I figured it out this morning. I don’t want to hear any more parents out there nervous about what their children are being taught, frightened by drag queens reading books to your kids if what you saw him do did not discuss you enough to protect your kids. I don’t want to hear from you anymore.”
“There’s so many good things about the U.S.” she continued. “We stumble and fall periodically. We do, and we’re in a stumble. We’re stumbling, and I’m not sure why we’re stumbling the way that we are because it just keeps ratcheting up. And then I realized it’s to keep us from talking about what really matters to We the People… We need somebody who’s saying, ‘Okay, here’s the way forward. This is what I’m looking for.’ So I’m sitting in my groove because it will be what it will be. And if you’re going out to vote this morning, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Don’t sit this one out.”
Goldberg’s closing message to viewers on the subject? “Stay in line. Because any little thing — you pass a little gas, they want to move you out … so just hold it. Clutch. Just stand clutch until you get in there. And then once you’re behind the curtain, let it rip.”
The View, weekdays, 11 a.m. ET, ABC