Alyssa Farah Griffin Says Republican Party 'Needs to Change,' Vows to Fight for Marriage Equality from Within

Mar. 15, 2025

Alyssa Farah Griffin.Photo: Lisa Ferdinando/Department of Defense/AP

Alyssa Farah Griffin, a former White House staffer under PresidentDonald Trump, is firmly a Republican — but that doesn’t mean she endorses everything the party stands for.

As she prepares for her newest gig as a co-host onThe View, she wants to make clear that while she’ll be representing a conservative viewpoint, she won’t disagree witheverythingher left-leaning costars say.

Speaking to PEOPLE, Farah Griffin talks about one particular area of the Republican Party platform that she would like to see thrown out: its opposition to same-sex marriage.

“I’m a conservative Republican. But not to get into policy, my party needs to change,” she says. “I am adamantly, fervently, proudly pro-marriage equality. I have been since I stood on the steps of the Supreme Court in 2015.”

The historic Supreme Court moment she’s referencing is the June 26, 2015, ruling inObergefell v. Hodges, a landmark case that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.

Obergefellis topical right now, after conservative Supreme Court JusticeClarence Thomaswrote in a concurring opinion forDobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization— a case thateliminated the constitutional right to abortionin June — that SCOTUS should alsoreconsider its stances on same-sex relationships and contraception.

The “Respect for Marriage Act” passed in the House in July, with 47 Republican representatives joining Democrats in standing up for LGBTQ+ rights. The bill now rests in Senate’s hands, where it will need the support of10 Republican senatorsin order to become law — a tall order, but one thatactivists believe is possible.

“I am going to be outspoken that my party needs to codify [marriage equality] into law,” Farah Griffin tells PEOPLE, adding that the GOP “needs to come into the 21st century” on some of these issues that should not be a matter of political division.

“I want to be part of fixing what the future of the Republican Party should be,” she says.

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Prior to the announcement, Farah Griffin had made a name for herself in the Republican world, and though she once represented the Trump administration as the former president’s director of strategic communications, she has made her distaste of Trump clear. Before working for Trump, she had served as press secretary for the Pentagon and press secretary for Vice PresidentMike Pence.

“I was a senior spokesperson for some of the most powerful men in the country, and that put me in incredibly challenging situations,” she recalls. “I also own that I worked for one of the most, if notthemost, divisive president in history. And I learned a lot from that, as I would hope anyone would.”

source: people.com