Trump’s former White House Strategic Communications Director and The View co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin shocked even herself with an on-air slip-up about the president’s notable absence from his namesake son’s wedding.
On Saturday, Donald Trump Jr., 48, married socialite Bettina Anderson, 39, in the Bahamas after two years of dating. Trump, 79, who had initially planned to be away on a golfing excursion, was absent, instead choosing to stay in D.C.
“If they had done the wedding at McDonald’s, maybe he would go,” The View co-host Joy Behar quipped on Tuesday, referencing Trump’s notorious diet.
“I oddly enough talked about this on CNN on Friday, and I said he should go,” Griffin, 36, responded. ”A parent should try to never miss their child’s funeral."
The View‘s studio audience immediately erupted in a collective gasp at the mispoken word. Griffin’s co-host, Sarah Haines, covered her agape mouth with her hands.
“Or—I’m sorry, Oh, God—wedding,” Griffin quickly corrected. “Honest, I’m so tired, I have a 3-month-old. That was not meant.”
The former federal press secretary powered through, finishing her point while the audience recovered.
“A parent should never miss a wedding if they’re able to, and I actually don’t think people would have criticized if he did that. I think you’re much more likely to get criticized for skipping it,” she concluded.
“He can go to the next one,” Behar, 83, joked.
In 2018, Trump Jr. divorced his wife of 13 years, Vanessa Trump, who revealed her breast cancer diagnosis days prior to the wedding.
Griffin, who had her first baby, Justin, in February, said she is still reeling from their shared week-long stint in the ICU for his “major surgery” in early May.
“My son ended up needing a major operation. I’m actually not going to get into the details, only because I will just turn into a puddle talking about it, but he had to get a surgery this weekend,” Griffin said on The View Podcast. “So we spent the weekend in the ICU with him.”
The new mother also critiqued Trump for posting AI-generated memes during his eldest son’s wedding.
“Don’t post if you skip the wedding,” Griffin said, laughing.
Trump, whose public schedule showed that he had plans to golf on the Memorial Day weekend at his namesake golf resort in Bedminster, New Jersey. It was later reported that he would be staying in D.C.
The president did not acknowledge his golfing plans when giving the reason for his absence.
“While I very much wanted to be with my son, Don Jr., and the newest member of the Trump Family, his soon to be wife, Bettina, circumstances pertaining to Government, and my love for the United States of America, do not allow me to do so,” he claimed on Truth Social a day before the wedding. “I feel it is important for me to remain in Washington, D.C., at the White House during this important period of time.”
Since taking office again, Trump has golfed at least 111 times, totaling nearly a quarter of his total second administration, according to the Donald Trump Golf Tracker analysis confirmed by the Daily Beast.
