Alyssa Farah Biography

Alyssa Alexandra Farah was born in Los Angeles, California, USA, on June 15, 1989, to Joseph Farah and Judy Farah (née Smagula). Her father was a conservative journalist of Syrian and Lebanese descent.  He established the American far-right news site WorldNetDaily (WND), which later became infamous for posting conspiracy theories and false information.

Her father had also worked with the Los Angeles Herald Examiner and The Sacramento Union. Her mother has been a journalist based in Sacramento and has written for HuffPost, AP, and Comstock's.

In 2007, Griffin graduated from Bella Vista High School. She led the girls’ soccer team at her high school as its captain. Some sources claim she also earned a black belt in karate during that time.

She then joined the Patrick Henry College, from where she obtained a bachelor's degree in Journalism and Public Policy in 2011. She later obtained a Weyrich-Fuelner policy fellowship through the Heritage Foundation. She has also been a Visiting Fellow of the Independent Women’s Forum.

Alyssa Farah Griffin showed an early interest in politics while in college. She secured several major political internships.

In 2010, she worked as a media intern for Tom McClintock, at the US House of Representatives. During this time, she also worked as an associate producer on The Laura Ingraham Show.

Following her graduation, she joined the US House of Representatives as a full-time employee in 2014 and became the Press Secretary for Congressman Mark Meadows. From 2016, she became the Senior Advisor and Communications Director for the House Freedom Caucus, working under Chairmen Jim Jordan and Mark Meadows.

In this capacity, she offered major strategic communication advice on all key legislative battles on Capitol Hill. Her areas included tax reforms, health care, and defense.

From October 2017 to September 2019, Alyssa Farah Griffin served Vice President Mike Pence as his Press Secretary. She also accompanied him on many foreign trips, such as those to the ASEAN Summit held in Singapore; the APEC CEO Summit in Papua New Guinea; the Ministerial in Warsaw, Poland, to promote peace in the Middle East; and the Munich Security Conference.

During this time, she was Pence’s main spokesperson to the national media. She also scripted history as the youngest Pentagon Press Secretary ever. She was also Special Assistant to President Donald Trump at the same time.

She also assisted in planning a quad lateral meeting between the US Vice President and the Presidents of the Northern Triangle Countries, in Guatemala. She also organized the first meeting between Columbian President Duque and interim President of Venezuela, Juan Guaido.

In September 2019, Alyssa Farah Griffin took over as the Deputy Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Media Affairs and as the Press Secretary for the Department of Defense. Her role was that of the deputy advisor for all media related to the Pentagon Press Corps, and she delivered regular updates on press briefings.

In her capacity, she later accompanied the Secretary of Defense on major overseas trips, such as an unannounced visit to Afghanistan to initiate peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government. As a senior advisor, she was responsible for preparing both the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for hearings of the Congress.

She also managed crisis communication effectively, including communication to the American public and the global community on vital information, during attacks on the American military bases and a US embassy back then. During her tenure, she also advised General Mark Milley, the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, on communications on Capitol Hill.

She served in the position till April 2020, before taking over as the 3rd White House Director of Strategic Communications. She remains the only person to have served as the top spokesperson for the US President, the US Vice President, and the Secretary of Defense, all in one administration.

During her tenure as the White House Communications Director, she created communications strategy to confirm a Supreme Court judge and advised a public health team on Operation Warp Speed, the government and private sector partnership for creating and distributing COVID-19 vaccines in record time. Alyssa Farah Griffin resigned as the Director of Strategic Communications in December 2020, stating that she wished to start a consulting firm.

In 2021, she became a politics contributor on CNN. Since August that year, she has also co-presented Rising, the online news program of the newspaper and digital media company The Hill.

In Spring 2022, she joined the Institute of Politics and Public Service of Georgetown University, as a GU Politics Fellow. She also organized the discussion group named The Future of America’s Democracy in the midst of the “MAGA” Movement. In August 2022, Alyssa Farah Griffin was named as a co-host on ABC’s Emmy-winning talk show The View, making her the show’s only conservative co-host.

She takes a keen interest in empowering women leaders. A talented public speaker, she often lectures about the future of the post-Trump Republican Party. Griffin has also received the Award for Distinguished Public Service from the Secretary of Homeland Security.

In 2019, Alyssa Farah Griffin became a victim of an impersonation scam, which used her name to target Congress members.

In 2020, she got engaged to Justin Griffin, a New York University Stern School of Business alumnus and a grandson of Republican activist and real estate developer Samuel A. Tamposi. Justin apparently proposed to her when they were on a boat in Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire, in July 2020. The couple married in November 2021 in Vero Beach, Florida.

In 2022, she revealed in an interview that her family, including her father and step-mother, had boycotted her wedding because she had been critical of some of Trump’s decisions.