Alyssa Farah-Griffin accused of 'normalizing' Trump's foolishness as she defends him over gulf name row

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: 'The View’ host Alyssa Farah Griffin has recently been accused of "normalizing" Donald Trump’s foolishness during a segment on the ABC talk show.

The controversy began after her unexpected agreement with President Donald Trump’s decision to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. 

Outrage as Alyssa Farah Griffin defends Donald Trump's decision to rename Gulf of Mexico

During a discussion on 'The View', the panel tackled Trump’s recent executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico—something critics saw as a headline-grabbing stunt. But while most of her co-hosts dismissed the renaming as nonsense, Griffin surprisingly defended it.

“I don’t actually hate renaming it the ‘Gulf of America,’ and I’m going to tell you why,” she said on Thursday’s episode. “It’s a more inclusive term. It is North America. Mexico and the United States are part of the Americas.”

She added, “It would be petty if he called it the Gulf of the United States by basically saying it’s our country’s, not yours.”

Many on social media weren't having it. Some accused Griffin of playing both sides—presenting herself as a Trump critic while subtly defending his actions, especially given her history as a former White House press secretary under his administration.

"Of course, Alyssa supports renaming the Gulf of Mexico. She seems to be in support of just about everything Trump is doing right now. She’s such a liar and a fraud," one posted on X.

"Alyssa just be talking to talk just like the rest of his team. She on the team from the sidelines," another wrote.

"Joy and Anna don’t play around with her nonsense," a third user added.

"She has slowly morphed into the insufferable Republican supplicant. She’s no different from @MeghanMcCain, only difference is outward behavior and appearance. You’d swear she’s auditioning to get back into the White House. @Alyssafarah we see the real person!" read a comment.

"Alyssa is a disingenuous p.o.s. She’s a Trump supporter that tries to keep her social standing by pretending to be against him," someone else fumed.

"Minimizing Trump's behavior is the same as condoning it. Especially when her next statement is, 'but the Democrats,'" another chimed in.

Griffin did, however, follow up her comments by saying that Trump’s renaming stunt was a classic distraction tactic—a way to keep the media focused on nonsense while making more alarming moves behind the scenes, Deadline reported.

“These are the things Donald Trump does to trigger a reaction from the media, so they cover this and pay more attention than ‘We’re wholesale getting rid of government agencies’ or ‘We’re confirming Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence,’” she warned.

Co-host Sara Haines agreed, bluntly calling it “a dumb thing to hang your hat on.” 

Trump vs. the Associated Press

But Trump’s renaming of the Gulf of Mexico wasn’t just symbolic—it came with real consequences.

When the Associated Press refused to start using the term “Gulf of America,” Trump’s White House banned them from the Oval Office.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt justified the decision. “I was very upfront in my briefing on day one, that if we feel there are lies being pushed by outlets in this room, we are going to hold those lies accountable. And it is a fact that the body of water off the coast of Louisiana is called the ‘Gulf of America,'" she declared.

Leavitt pointed out that Apple and Google Maps had already updated the name—albeit only for users in the United States.

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