In what might have been an accidental announcement on Friday’s Good Morning America, The View co-hosts Sara Haines and Alyssa Farah Griffin said that Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) would be their first political guest for Season 30, which starts September 8. It’s a major reversal of their habit from the past couple of years as they’ve come under major pressure from the Federal Communications Commission to defend their “bona fide news” status.
During their appearance on GMA to promote the upcoming season, co-host Sam Champion seemed to be under the impression that they had already announced Cruz would be a guest. “So, I know you've got like Senator Ted Cruz is coming up on that,” he said.
It was later confirmed by Farah Griffin when she remarked how wacky The View was for having Cruz and singer Lizzo appear during the same episode. She even wondered what Cruz would look like twerking like Lizzo:
FARAH GIFFIN: So, just a classic View booking, we’ve got Ted Cruz and Lizzo the same day. Like, only The View has that on the same day.
CHAMPION: True.
FARAH GRIFFIN: I hope they meet backstage, it would be just be so funny.
HAINES: Or high-fives on the way to the set.
REBECCA JARVIS: What a mash-up.
FARAH GRIFFIN: Can Ted Cruz twerk? Do we know? Do we need to know?
JARVIS: Do we really need to know, Alyssa? Do we really?
NewsBusters having an impact!
After being caught minimizing the number of conservative guests they would allow on, which multiple NewsBusters studies have confirmed, The View confirms Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) will be the first political guest for Season 30.
This comes after they… pic.twitter.com/bP1ZWFMXEi— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) September 4, 2026
Farah Griffin’s note that Cruz would be on with Lizzo put a date on the calendar for when to expect his appearance: September 9, their second episode of the season. As of publication, The View’s ticket request page on 1iota said the show was sold out, but did not advertise Cruz’s appearance, although it did include one for Lizzo.
NewsBusters readers may recall our December 2023 exclusive that broke the story that The View had refused to have Cruz back on the show after he requested an appearance.
Cruz being the first publicly announced political guest was a major switch up to the habit they had gotten into over the last couple of years.
As NewsBusters reported, in previous years, they kicked off their seasons with major liberal figures. For seasons 29 and 28, their first guests were liberal Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson, respectively.
There were also reports that The View had invited former Trump White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt to be a guest, with sensationalist rumors claiming they wanted her to be a co-host.
The fact that two conservative figures were being talked about before any Democratic ones was a major shakeup of the nearly liberal-exclusive ecosystem they had constructed on the show.
A NewsBusters study of The View’s 29th season showed they had a massive disparity regarding the political views shared by the guests they selected to invite: 87 liberals vs just five conservatives, with many of them having asterisks.
An older NewsBusters study of their guests from 2025 showed an even larger 128-to-2 lopsided field of guests.
The Media Research Center submitted these studies to the FCC, along with another 2,473 pieces of evidence, amid an ongoing review of the show’s status as a “bona fide news program.”
It seemed obvious that the weight of the evidence against them was becoming too much to bear, and it was resulting in the necessary change needed to allow a wider breath of views to accepted on The View.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
ABC’s Good Morning America
September 4, 2026
8:16:53 a.m. Eastern(…)
WHIT JOHNSON: 30 seasons in, what do you think has changed? The biggest thing that's changed over time?
SARA HAINES: Well, table, because if you watch a rerun, those girls sat on each other.
[Laughter]
Have you seen -- it's like -- that was all they could afford to start.
[Crosstalk]
SAM CHAMPION: I forgot about that. I forgot.
HAINES: Look at that table!
CHAMPION: Wow.
HAINES: Give us more space!
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: But it's also amazing how just culturally relevant the show still is 30 Seasons in. Like, Barbara Walters I think would be so proud to know how much we're driving headlines, political discourse, pop culture discourse. Like, what just an incredible vision that she had and that it's lived on this long.
HAINES: Well, in those early days politics didn't play the same role. That came along the way, so I think to see five women sitting at a table that are continually part of those headlines and part of a conversation that women weren't always invited into.
CHAMPION: And now leading, like -
HAIONES: Yes. Yes.
CHAMPION: - that's the whole show and the conversation.
So Season 30. I still can't believe it.
CHAMPION: I know. You’ve got primer week -
FARAH GRIFFIN: Especially because we're in our 20s.
[Laughter]
HAINES: Super young.
CHAMPION: In your youth!
HGAINES: Yeah.
CHAMPION: So, I know you've got like Senator Ted Cruz is coming up on that.
HAINES: Yup.
CHAMPION: I believe Sherri Shepherd is back in the mix.
HAINES: Yes. Love her.
CHAMPION: And you're kind of promising some surprises. Do we get a hint on what some of those surprises are?
HAINES: Well, one surprise we’re both excited about is for the audience but we can't tell you guys. You know how this works.
FARAH GRIFFIN: What a tease.
[Laughter and crosstalk]
FARAH GRIFFIN: Premier is incredible. You want to be there.
HAINES: We even giggled when we heard.
FARAH GRIFFIN: I was like, don't even tell me because it's so good.
HAINES: And then I said, I'm telling you anyway, don’t ruin this.
FARAH GIFFIN: So, just a classic View booking, we’ve got Ted Cruz and Lizzo the same day. Like, only The View has that on the same day.
CHAMPION: True.
FARAH GRIFFIN: I hope they meet backstage, it would be just be so funny.
HAINES: Or high-fives on the way to the set.
REBECCA JARVIS: What a mash-up.
FARAH GRIFFIN: Can Ted Cruz twerk? Do we know? Do we need to know?
JARVIS: Do we really need to know, Alyssa? Do we really?
[Crosstalk and laughter]
(…)
8:20:25 a.m. Eastern
GIO BENITEZ: And that friendship, we see it play out.
FARAH GRIFFIN: I love this woman. [Hugs Sara Haines]
BENITEZ: When I watch The View, I'm leaning in when that debate happens and you all disagree. How do you keep that friendship so alive even when you disagree?
FARAH GRIFFIN: It's honestly very natural to who we are. I -- My best friends, most of us, have different views. My very best friend in real life, Alex, is a Democrat. I'm a Republican. But it makes for more interesting conversations. It makes you challenge your own ideas.
And both of us I think enter friendships, conversations with wanting to understand the other person. It's not necessarily about winning the argument but wanting to understand them better.
And I laugh because people are like, ‘Oh, Sara is such a moderate.’ She's like a Bernie bro on the economy but other things –
[Laughter]
She's from Iowa -- and then on other things because you're from Iowa, you have more conservative takes. I love because you think outside the box, and that just makes it so fun to hear your perspective.
HAINES: We guide with curiosity. I think both of us are naturally more concerned with explain yourself. I want to under you before we feel the need to be understood. And that's a way to enter any conversation.
BENITEZ: That's so beautiful!
(…)
