The View's Alyssa Farah Griffin Says She 'Convinced' Donald Trump to 'Not Fire' Dr. Fauci During the Pandemic

Alyssa Farah Griffin, a former Trump administration official and co-host of The View, took credit for convincing then-President Donald Trump to keep Dr. Anthony Fauci in his storied role as the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

During a Tuesday, October 6, appearance on The View's "Behind the Table" podcast with producer Brian Teta, Griffin detailed her behind-the-scenes actions during the COVID-19 pandemic when she served as the White House Strategic Communications Director.

Griffin described the intense internal tension that Republican politicians face under Trump. She argued that many officials are far more frustrated privately than they admit publicly, operating out of fear of losing Trump's support for legislation or facing a primary opponent backed by Trump.

“I think about it with my own time in the White House. I mean, I could point to very specific things, like convincing the former president — er, the current president — to not fire Tony Fauci. That’s a reason it was important for me to be in the room. I can think of different things, but you can always wrestle with there’s only two choices you could have made and I never know what the right choice is,” Griffin shared.

She used the situation with Dr. Fauci — who faced massive backlash from Republicans over pandemic lockdowns as well as origins — to explain why she chose to stay in the administration.

“Hindsight is 20/20, but I tried to learn from decisions and move forward accordingly,” Griffin said.

“And you have to imagine who else would have been in those rooms if you weren’t there,” Teta replied.

“Well, I think we’re seeing it this term,” the TV star added.

The podcast revelation corresponds with her previous congressional testimony given to the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack. In that testimony, she admitted to actively working around orders from senior advisors — and Trump himself — who tried to pull Dr. Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx off television and media appearances.

Trump has publicly dismissed his relationship with the venerable and longtime former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, bragging that he didn't listen to Dr. Fauci's advice and saying he's never been "a fan."

On the other hand, Dr. Fauci's recently leaked personal diaries revealed that MAGA hardliner Stephen Miller and his wife, Katie, frequently sought and relied on Fauci's medical advice during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Fauci has been at the center of escalating legal, political and cultural battles, culminating in a historic congressional contempt motion and the leak of his private diaries, with the Republican-led Senate Homeland Security Committee voting to hold him in contempt of Congress following a vitriolic three-hour Senate hearing investigating the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.

During that time, the doctor invoked the Fifth Amendment over 100 times.

While former President Joe Biden granted Dr. Fauci a preemptive federal pardon covering activities from 2014 to January 2025, legal experts note the doctor still has a right to the Fifth Amendment because of potential criminal exposure from state-level probes.