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Sunday, July 24, 2022
From Honoring To Heathering: The MRC Turns On Alyssa Farah
Topic: Media Research Center

We're almost starting to feel bad for Alyssa Farah. We've noted the rift between her and her father, WorldNetDaily editor Joseph Farah (who says he wasn't invited her to her wedding earlier this year), presumably stemming from his continued embrace of Donald Trump and his false election fraud conspiracy theories even after he incited the Capitol riot, actions that caused Alyssa -- who at one time was the Trump White House communications director -- to break with him.

In a December 2020 post, Curtis Houck was happy to tout her White House job as a retort to incoming President Biden having the first all-female White House communications staff. In October 2021, Kristine Marsh came to Farah's defense during a guest-host stint on "The View" when the other co-hosts "badgered and berated her for working for the Trump White House at all"; Marsh noted that Farah "explained that Trump’s rhetoric around denying the election results was what caused her to resign and told the View hosts she didn’t vote for him in 2016, which was a small relief to them."

But Farah's refusal to defend Trump not matter what and to not hate Democrats and President Biden as much as right-wing dogma demands -- not to mention her apparent desire to be a permanent host on "The View" -- has made the MRC slowly flip-flop and turn her into a victim of its Heathering process, in which it attacks fellow right-wingers for straying ever so slightly straying from that dogma because no dissent is tolerated. In a Jan. 16 post, Tim  Graham complained that Farah -- now Alyssa Farah Griffin after her marriage -- didn't spew hat at Biden during an appearance on Brian Stelter's "Reliable Sources": "At least Stelter asked Alyssa Farah Griffin about the lack of press conferences. She didn't exactly attack the White House for hiding Biden."

Marsh did praise Farah Griffin for bashing former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in a Feb. 8 post, though she did make a point of noting that she "now works for CNN." The next day, Marsh praised her again for defending the notorious Florida "don't say gay"bill. In a March 14 post, however, Nicholas Fondacaro criticzed Farah Griffin for advocating a no-fly zone over Ukraine, delcaring that would be an "escalation" of the conflict there; he did praise her on March 17 for arguing with co-host Whoopi Goldberg in a way that when Goldberg responded, she "refus[ed] to look Farah in the eye."

Fondacaro's hostility to Farah Griffin increased after that. When Biden's sister appeared n the show to promote her book, Fondacaro sneered in an April 12 post that "self-proclaimed Republican Alyssa Farah Griffin couldn’t think up an original question and essentially asked Hostin’s again." Translation: Farah Griffin wouldn't spew hate her at the woman for the sin of being a Biden. The next day, Fondacaro ranted against the co-hosts favored sensible gun regulation and that  Farah Griffin "didn’t push back on any of this nonsense."

Fondacaro seemed to be complaining that Farah Griffin wasn't an obnoxious enough right-winger in a May 10 post on the show's co-hosts discussing abortion in the wake of the leaked Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe v. Wade: "As self-described Republican and guest co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin was trying to bring up how “there was an anti-abortion clinic that was targeted violently,” Goldberg interrupted to wave off any mention of the topic." The next day, Fondacaro whined that she has "honestly been rather squishy with defending conservative and Republican policies." He was still Heathering Farah Griffin will agreeing with her in a May 13 post noting that "self-described conservative Alyssa Farah Griffin got to the heart of the debate and why the pro-life side was so adamant about their position."

Fondacaro set the tone for the MRC's rage at Farah Griffin in a May 24 post:

During a contentious appearance on ABC’s The View on Tuesday, former Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway frazzled the cast in the way only she can. There to promote her new book, Here’s the Deal, Conway confronted the liberals with President Biden’s failures and blasted the liberal media for targeting her family. She also called out sell-out conservative Alyssa Farah Griffin for abandoning conservative principles for her selfish interests.

[...]

The sparks really flew when Griffin tried to portray herself as a defender of America and democracy citing her exit from the administration after the 2020 election. “I left three months before you did, for my children. I have four of them. And I said less drama, more mama,” Conway shot back. “I think you stayed a whole month after the election that you were having a problem with.”

Griffin rudely interrupted Conway to proclaim she supposedly stayed in order “to help my junior staff get jobs.” She then took a cheap shot at Conway by suggesting she took an oath to support Trump and not the Constitution.

Building off that false premise, Griffin tried to suggest Conway was for the Capitol Riot but Conway had receipts showing her opposition. Conway then called out Griffin’s self-serving actions of abandoning conservative principles in an attempt to be a media staple for bashing Republicans:

Alyssa, if you're saying that somehow you think we're supposed to think that you've seen the light and not just see your name in lights, that's not fair.

“That’s such a cheap shot,” Griffin whined at the truth.

Given that neither Conway nor Fondacaro describe exactly how Farah Griffin supposedly "abandoning conservative principles" or described the "selfish interests" for which they were purportedly abandoned -- or even for what, exactly, she "sold out," that truly was a cheap shot.

Again: The only criticism the MRC has ever laid on Farah Griffin has been not loving Trump enough and not hating Biden enough. That's Heathering at its finest -- and, apparently, reason enough to try and destroy her for no longer being part of the cool kids club.

Interestingly, there was no mention whatsoever by the MRC of Farah Griffin's pedigree as the daughter of the operator of one of the most virulent fake-news conspiracy websites out there. So it hasn't thrown her completely under the bus (yet).


Posted by Terry K. at 10:20 PM EDT

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