Chaos Erupts on The View as Ana Navarro Grills Ex-Trump Staffer Stephanie Grisham

The View brought the fireworks Friday morning when Ana Navarro grilled guest co-host Stephanie Grisham about her decision to remain in the Trump White House for four years. Navarro's line of questioning was similar to Sunny Hostin's on Wednesday, but she refused to back down as Grisham repeatedly insisted that she's "sorry" and doing everything possible to keep Trump out of office. "Why should people believe you now?!" asked Navarro, as the discussion devolved into cross-talk and, later, all-out chaos.

Navarro was absent from The View until Friday morning, so it was no surprise when she diverted a discussion about Trump crowdfunding a plane to get her licks in on Grisham, who said Trump "laughs at [his supporters] behind closed doors" for their stupidity. "When I hear you talk about this, I need to ask you," said Navarro. "For years, you heard him do this, right? Laugh behind closed doors. So why did it take so long for you to find it so objectionable?"

"I did cover this, but I'm happy to do it again," replied Grisham, as Hostin said she "asked the same thing" earlier this week. "I worked for Mrs. Trump. I moved to the West Wing. I saw things I hated. By that time, I wanted to leave, and I knew because of — I'm sorry — people like yourself, who are so against me, that I would not be able to get a job anywhere. I'm a single mom. I have bills to pay. I went back to Mrs. Trump because I felt protected by her; I felt like at least she did things anti-Trump against her husband. I figured I would just ride it out and do the best I could afterwards. Then January 6 happened, and I said, 'Hell no. I'm done.'"

"That's what happened," she continued. "And I know it's hard to believe, but I believed in him. And half the country believed in him. And I think that when you keep attacking me, you're attacking a lot of people out there who might want an off-ramp!"

Navarro insisted that she's not "attacking" Grisham, but "holding accountable" those complicit in the Trump administration. "I can say I'm sorry until I'm blue in the face," replied Grisham. "But I'm looking forward now, and I'm trying to change it. And I will do everything I can to make sure he's not elected again."

When Navarro asked why anyone should "believe you now" after four years of looking the other way, things started to spiral. "Because I'm telling them the truth!" said the guest co-host. "I could be at home right now with my dogs and my family and my chickens. It's not fun for me!"

In a surprising turn, Joy Behar then stepped in to defend Grisham, who she implied has "seen the light and changed" after her time in the Trump White House. "Four years later?" replied Navarro. "After 'there were good people on both sides?' After the way he treated immigrants? After what he said about Mexicans? After hearing the sexual assault boasts on tape? After seeing him make fun of a disabled reporter? You need four years to have the scales fall from your eyes?"

Rather than try to de-escalate the situation, Hostin only ratcheted up the intensity when she asked why both of them are still "part of the Republican Party" given their feelings about Trump. "If we're going to talk real, let's talk real!" she said. "Why are you, as a Latina, still part of the Republican Party? And why are you, having seen it first-hand, still part of the Republican Party?"

Grisham struggled to respond to Hostin's "real talk" — "Trump's not the Republican Party," she said, a point which Hostin quickly refuted — but Navarro, clearly fired up, offered an impassioned monologue on the topic. "As a Latina, I think the worst thing that can happen to a minority group is to have one party take you for granted, and think you're going to vote for them because they have no other option," she said, "And to have another party that openly attacks and antagonizes you."

"It wasn't too long ago — it wasn't Jurassic Park; it wasn't dinosaurs roaming the Earth — when there were people like George W. Bush who came out and openly and publicly supported the Latino community and were able to get 44% of the vote," continued Navarro. "I hope that one day there are two healthy parties competing for our vote and earning our support, not taking one for granted and antagonizing the other. That doesn't help anybody!"

"And on that, I agree with you," said Grisham. "Absolutely." Well, there's that.

Happy Friday, everyone. The co-hosts could certainly use the weekend after today's blow-up.

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