Alyssa Farah Griffin, the so-called conservative co-host of "The View," was panned by critics for suggesting Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp would fare better in the GOP primary race than Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Members of the legacy media as well as the Trump campaign have been quick to declare the demise of DeSantis' presidential bid due to stagnant polls and two rounds of layoffs among staffers in hopes of a campaign reboot.
Griffin, a former Trump White House official-turned-vocal GOP critic on the daytime ABC program, took to Twitter on Thursday to put a spotlight on the Peach State governor, who has already ruled out joining the 2024 race.
"Hot take: @BrianKempGA was always the conservative hero the GOP was hoping DeSantis would be," Griffin wrote. "Popular Governor of a purple state, who challenged COVID restrictions that hurt business, without dabbling in anti-vax none sense that repels moderate R’s."
Critics tore into Griffin, who regularly blocks Twitter users who she doesn't follow from replying to her tweets, for suggesting she'd back Kemp if he entered the race, something others don't buy.
"You would oppose him too if he was running for President," National Review contributor Pradheep J. Shanker told Griffin.
"Hotter take: If Brian Kemp ran for president, you'd oppose him as well. The only reason you like Kemp right now is because he's not a threat," RedState writer Bonchie similarly reacted.
"He would say 'no I don't think men should be in women's locker rooms' Then you would go on your garbage show and say 'you know I liked him until he got into these culture issues. That's too far for me,'" Versus Media Podcast host Stephen L. Miller predicted.
"Kemp banned most child gender transitions, critical theory inspired instruction in schools, opposed COVID lockdowns, banned most abortions, and went further than DeSantis on guns. If he was running for POTUS, The View would probably argue he’s more right wing than Mussolini," journalist Zaid Jilani wrote, adding "The only reason Kemp isn’t being demonized is because he isn’t running for President. If he runs for Senate he will get the same one sided hyperbolic treatment by partisan media. Georgia will be on Jim Crow 6.0 by then."
"Hot take: You are a pathetic sellout..." Daily Caller correspondent Henry Rodgers knocked the former Trump official.
‘THE VIEW’ CO-CREATOR DEAD AT 68
Following the events of Jan. 6, Griffin had become a GOP-bashing media darling for both ABC as a co-host of "The View" and CNN as a contributor.
Kemp handily won his 2022 re-election in a rematch against high-profile Democrat Stacey Abrams, who famously never conceded her defeat against him in 2018. The media previously targeted Kemp for implementing election reform President Biden declared was "Jim Crow 2.0" despite record-setting ballots that were counted in the last election. Kemp also faced the ire of former President Trump, who failed to primary the popular Republican governor after he refused to overturn Georgia's 2020 election victory for Biden.
For months, the 2024 presidential primary has widely been seen as a two-person race between Trump and DeSantis, who is over 30 points behind the former president according to the RealClearPolitics average of polls.
The two have met the RNC's qualifications for next month's first Republican debate hosted by Fox News as well as South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgam.
