New View Co-Hosts Ana Navarro and Alyssa Farah Griffin Call Role 'an Honor' and 'Incomparable Privilege'

ANA NAVARRO, ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN
ANA NAVARRO, ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN
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Lou Rocco/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty, Lou Rocco/ABC via Getty

There's two new ladies heading to The View table.

Ana Navarro is taking a permanent seat at the table, the series confirmed during Thursday's broadcast. News of Navarro's involvement comes minutes after former Trump staffer Alyssa Farah Griffin was also named as co-host.

Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin and Sara Haines round out the cast.

"Well, after many years, many hairstyles, many pounds up and down and appearances as a guest, a contributor, Snow White, and a guest co-host, we're finally putting a ring on it and making it official," Navarro, 50, said on the show Thursday. "First of all I want to thank the very loyal View fans. I've read you, I've heard you, I see you and I thank you."

Navarro said it's "not the right time for me or for the show to make it full-time" but she ultimately couldn't pass up the opportunity.

RELATED: Ana Navarro Tells View Co-Hosts She's Still a Republican: 'Like It or Not'

"I have other work commitments, I have a life, I have a husband in Miami, who I thank for understanding my absences. I have a very clingy dog, I have all these things I love in Miami. Leaving all that behind every week is tough. But I also love, love, love doing this show," she explained. "I've thought about it long and hard. As you all know, most weeks I'm on a plane four times a week and I spend countless hours on plans, on airports, in hotels. Sometimes, it gets lonely. But I also know it's a huge, enormous, incomparable privilege to be part of a 25-year institution. And whether people like it or not, whether some people acknowledge it or not, it is the relevance and the importance and the platform that The View represents."

Navarro continued, "We at this table have spent a lot of time talking about representation and saying representation matters. And that means when a little Latina immigrant girl born in Chinandega, Nicaragua, who came to this country at the age of 8 as a political refugee who found her home here, gets the opportunity and the change to have a platform, you grab it with both hands and you run with it."

Navarro is a political commentator and strategist best known for sharing her political views on CNN, CNN en Español, ABC News, and Telemundo. She identifies as a Republican.

THE VIEW - Star Jones is the guest co-host today, Friday, September 10, 2021 on ABC’s “The View.” “The View” airs Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-12 noon, ET, on ABC. (ABC/Lou Rocco) ANA NAVARRO
THE VIEW - Star Jones is the guest co-host today, Friday, September 10, 2021 on ABC’s “The View.” “The View” airs Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-12 noon, ET, on ABC. (ABC/Lou Rocco) ANA NAVARRO

Lou Rocco/ABC Ana Navarro

Despite her party affiliation, Navarro has been somewhat supportive of President Joe Biden on Twitter. On Tuesday, she outlined a new bill that Biden supports, pointing to his bipartisan success in office.

"PACT Act, which expands health-care and disability benefits for vets exposed to burn pits, just passed US Senate with 86 votes. Biden will sign it, and it'll become law," she tweeted. "Despite all the nay-sayers, Biden's managed to pass a hell of a lot of major bipartisan legislation. Good!"

She also denounced the January 6 Capitol Riots while serving as a temporary co-host on The View in November.

RELATED: Watch the Moment Sunny Hostin and Ana Navarro Are Asked to Leave 'The View' After Positive COVID Tests

"It drives me crazy to hear members of the Republican party, of my party say we have to move on," she said of the incident. "No, we're not moving on until we find out everything that happened!"

Behar, 78, responded, questioning whether Navarro still considers herself a Republican. "Yes, I'm still in that party. I'm not going to let a guy who was a Democrat, an Independent — who became a Republican just a few years ago — kick me out," she said, referencing a digital spat with Donald Trump Jr.

"I'm not going to be kicked out by a person that has no ideology, no principals, and no convictions," she added. "I'm not going anywhere!"

The other new co-host, Farah Griffin, formerly served as the White House Strategic Communications Director and was a former staffer of Donald Trump. PEOPLE initially confirmed she was hired by the ABC series on July 26.

RELATED: Former White House Communications Director Says Trump Should Consider Resigning: 'Lives Were Lost'

As the series officially announced her new role on Thursday, Farah Griffin said was an "honor" to join The View.

"I was trying to come up with the word that described how I feel about this and honored is all that comes to mind," she said. "This show set out as you all know, Barbara Walters had this vision for bringing women from totally different backgrounds, lived experiences, careers, to talk about the tough issues that frankly our elected officials aren't often tackling. And we do that every day. And we're having important conversations."

Farrah Griffin then addressed the "turbulent" few years she endured under her former political roles and how since then, she's been able to find her own voice.

Alyssa Farah, White House director of strategic communications, speaks to members of the media outside the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020. Farah said that the Trump administration is committed to getting a stimulus package and that there could be "some movement in the next 48 hours."
Alyssa Farah, White House director of strategic communications, speaks to members of the media outside the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020. Farah said that the Trump administration is committed to getting a stimulus package and that there could be "some movement in the next 48 hours."

Chris Kleponis/Polaris/Bloomberg via Getty

"I worked for an administration that I ended up speaking out against fervently and continue to daily, and that changes a lot in your life. I lost a lot of friends, I'm estranged from family members. But I have to say this: I am so proud to have found my voice," she said.

"I was a president's spokesperson, I was a vice president's spokesperson, I was way too many Republican men of Congress' spokesperson. But now, I am here to just join this table, hopefully, bring a different perspective," she continued. "Listen, it's going to get sporty sometimes, but I adore you women. And I'm so excited for it. I'm ready for it."

Navarro and Farrah Griffin are filling the now-vacant conservative role formerly held by Megan McCain. Once McCain, 37, left in August 2021 after four seasons, the fifth chair was held by a rotating selection of guest hosts, including Navarro and Farrah Griffin.

Recently, PEOPLE also broke the news that fellow conservative Elisabeth Hasselbeck was returning as a guest co-host on The View. She made her official comeback Wednesday.

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The View airs weekdays at 11 a.m. ET on ABC.