Donald Trump Thinks the 'H' in Jesus H. Christ Stands for Horatio, Claims Former White House Staffer Alyssa Farah Griffin

The View co-host and former White House special assistant, Alyssa Farah Griffin, shared a comical story about her former boss Donald Trump.

"Hand on my heart, my first day at the White House, Trump asked me if I knew what the H stood for [in Jesus H. Christ]," she penned on X. "I said no. He said Horatio."

She shared the anecdote in response to a social media user asking about the origin of the common interjection.

In the phrase "Jesus H. Christ," the letter "H" does not represent a real middle name; linguists and historians note it derives from the Greek monogram of Jesus' name (IHS), but the exact origin of the middle letter remains uncertain.

In popular folklore or student humor (such as a biology joke), the "H" has humorously been said to stand for "Haploid" based on the doctrine of the virgin birth.

Other minor or speculative theories have suggested words like "herald" or "hallowed," though they lack historical backing compared to the Christogram origin.

The 37-year-old worked in the Trump administration for nearly four years. She served from September 2017 until her resignation in December 2020.

During her tenure, she held three different high-level communication roles across the administration: Press Secretary to Vice President Mike Pence (September 2017 – September 2019), Press Secretary for the Department of Defense (September 2019 – April 2020) and White House Director of Strategic Communications (April 2020 – December 2020.)

She resigned because she refused to support Trump's false claims regarding the 2020 election results.

While her official resignation letter in December 2020 said she was leaving to "pursue new opportunities," she later detailed the specific internal breaking points that led her to leave the administration.

Griffin explained that she stepped down because she anticipated the dangerous trajectory of election denialism. She said she could see where things were headed and was deeply uncomfortable using her role as Director of Strategic Communications to mislead the public into believing the election could be overturned.

She noted that once it became clear Trump had lost — as dozens of failed court challenges showed — the administration became a "runaway train" of false claims. She realized she could no longer positively influence the messaging or outcomes from the inside.

Griffin later revealed that she first seriously considered resigning months earlier during the summer of 2020. Following the murder of George Floyd, she attempted to get Trump to walk back his controversial "when the looting starts, the shooting starts" tweet.

When he refused and doubled down on the statement, she realized he was "not a fixable individual.”

During the November 5, 2024, broadcast of The View, Griffin — a lifelong Republican — revealed that she cast her ballot for Kamala Harris the weekend before Election Day. She noted that it was the first time she ever voted for a Democrat.