BS BULLETIN:
- Michael Douglas asked Ana Navarro the question many conservatives have asked for years: Why does she still call herself a Republican?
- Navarro said Florida’s closed primaries are the key — remaining a registered Republican lets her vote in GOP contests.
- Her exact description of what she wants to do with that vote was considerably more colorful.
Well, now we know.
“The View” co-host Ana Navarro has spent years identifying herself as a Republican while relentlessly criticizing Donald Trump, supporting Kamala Harris in 2024 and appearing as a celebrity host at the Democratic National Convention.
On Tuesday, actor Michael Douglas finally asked her the obvious question.
“I have to ask you something,” Douglas began. “I’ve admired you now so much for the last couple of years … But why aren’t you independent? How can you still be a Republican?”
The table — Navarro included — erupted in laughter.
Then she answered.
“I’ll tell you why, because I live in Florida where the primaries are closed, and I want to be able to vote in the primaries and vote against those sons of b—-es,” Navarro said.
She added that she hoped to “make a difference in the primaries.”
And there you have it.
Navarro isn’t merely hanging onto the Republican label out of nostalgia. Her registration gives her something politically useful in Florida: access to Republican primaries.
The admission becomes even more interesting in light of what Navarro was doing on “The View” just last week.
Discussing Florida’s 27th Congressional District, Navarro encouraged viewers to consider Democratic candidate Elliott Rodriguez in his race against Republican Rep. María Elvira Salazar.
Navarro told viewers:
“So, anybody who lives in Coral Gables, in Miami, in Key Biscayne, in downtown Miami, pay attention to that race and go vote because it’s going to matter.”
Then came the kicker:
“And we can actually knock this woman out. There’s a great guy running. His name is Elliott Rodriguez. Give him a look!”
Navarro does have a long history inside the Republican Party. She worked with prominent Republicans including John McCain, Jeb Bush and Jon Huntsman and has previously described herself as an “old-fashioned Republican.”
In an Entertainment Weekly interview published just days before the Douglas exchange, Navarro offered a more philosophical explanation for why she hasn’t abandoned the label.
“I’d argue that anybody who espouses the same views as Donald Trump isn’t much of a traditional Republican,” Navarro said. “I’m not going to be lectured to about what a Republican is or isn’t.”
She told the magazine that she still believes in some traditional Republican principles and suggested she would probably register as an independent if Florida didn’t have closed primaries.
So Navarro’s position is actually pretty clear.
She believes Trump and today’s GOP departed from the Republican Party she once knew, while many Trump-era Republicans believe Navarro is the one who departed.
Republican consultant Mary Marslender didn’t exactly mince words when Fox News asked her about it.
“Ana Navarro doesn’t represent a broader phenomenon of GOP dissidents; she represents a total grift,” Marslender said. “She hasn’t supported anything from her supposed party in over a decade, but she won’t surrender her Republican voting card because it’s a credential that gets her on news programs.”
Marslender continued: “‘The View’ needs a fake Republican who will constantly criticize actual Republicans, the president, and party donors, and she’s keeping the title because it’s her business plan to pull the Republican card meaninglessly.”
Navarro, obviously, sees things quite differently.
But after Tuesday’s exchange, at least nobody needs to wonder why that “R” remains on her Florida voter registration.
She told us. As if we didn’t already know.
MY QUICK TAKE:
Well, thank you, Ana.
Years of confusion cleared up in about 15 seconds.
“How can you still be a Republican?”
Because Florida has closed primaries and she wants to vote against “those sons of b—-es.”
Gotcha.
Now, Navarro’s larger argument is that Trump changed the Republican Party and she remains loyal to an older GOP tradition. Fine. That’s an actual political argument people can debate.
But there’s something delicious about finally hearing the practical explanation stated this plainly.
Keep the Republican registration.
Vote against Republicans in Republican primaries.
Go on national television and encourage voters to support Democrats.
And continue occupying the Republican chair at “The View.”
Mystery solved.
DBS WIRE SOURCES:
- Fox News — “The View” co-host Ana Navarro offers one key reason for why she still identifies as a Republican
- Entertainment Weekly — “The View”’s Ana Navarro explains her party affiliation, slams critics claiming she’s not a real Republican
- Fox News — ABC’s “The View” co-host Ana Navarro urges viewers to vote for Dem in key Florida congressional race
- The View — Ana Navarro biography
