Alyssa Farah Griffin Criticizes Her Father for Promoting Birtherism Conspiracy Theories

Alyssa Farah Griffin has been open about the Trump-sized rift in her family, but on Friday, she revealed she has clashed with her father, Joseph Farah, editor-in-chief of far-right conspiracy website WorldNetDaily, over his promotion of false "birtherism" conspiracy theories about former President Obama.

As the women of The View discussed former President Trump's decision to host a Saudi-backed golf tournament at his course in Bedminster, New Jersey. In a Thursday interview from the golf course, Trump said "nobody's gotten to the bottom of 9/11," a statement the ladies declared was both false and dangerous.

"He's sort of dabbling in 9/11 trutherism, like the 'We don't really know what happened. We're not sure,'" said Griffin. "We're pretty sure what happened, and we got Bin Laden, thank god."

"I have, since leaving the Trump administration, made it a point to speak out against conspiracy theories. I think they can take on a life of their own and become so destructive," she continued. "This is a man who started with the birther conspiracy, ended with the Big Lie, now he's bringing back up 9/11 trutherism."

Griffin said "the birther issue" is particularly "near and dear to her home," given her father's efforts to spread the conspiracy theory, which falsely suggests that Obama is not a natural-born U.S. citizen (he was born in Hawaii).

9/11 FAMILIES SLAM TRUMP OVER SAUDI GOLF EVENT: Victims' families are protesting at former Pres. Trump's New Jersey golf course for hosting a Saudi-backed tournament — #TheView panel weighs in on him saying "nobody’s gotten to the bottom of 9/11." https://t.co/cVclFZQmjA pic.twitter.com/T2b00LV64p

— The View (@TheView) July 29, 2022

When Griffin said her father's "business promoted" the theory, Sunny Hostin chimed in with a correction, saying, "He sort of originated that, your father, right?"

"In some ways," replied Griffin, side-stepping the dig. "I remember 10 years ago saying, 'Why are we doing this? It's destructive. It's bigoted. It's blatantly racist.'"

"Did you ever agree with your father on the birther [theory]?" asked Hostin, to which Griffin insisted, "No, not at all."

She added that "it was actually really hard for [her] to understand" why her father would spew such hate, as he's of Lebanese and Syrian descent.

"I remember having a conversation of like, 'People other-ize our people. How are we other-izing the Black community?'" recalled Griffin. "I say all this to say, conspiracy theories are seductive, but they're destructive. And this man who is wholly unfit to be president for so many reasons is still espousing lies."

Claire Spellberg Lustig is the Senior Editor at Primetimer and a scholar of The View. Follow her on Twitter at @c_spellberg.