Ana Navarro may be hilarious, but she’s no joke. Born in Nicaragua, as a child she escaped the Sandinistan Revolution and immigrated with her family to the United States. The Miami resident holds a Juris Doctorate law degree, advised U.S. Presidential campaigns, and served as a Harvard Kennedy School Fellow.
Yet not one to take herself too seriously, she’s made numerous appearances on the iconic gameshowJeopardy!.To make a point, Navarro once pulled out an emery board and began filing her nails—twice—in the middle of a primetime CNN debate.
Now a regular contributor on “The View,” Navarro serves as a political commentator for ABC, CNN, and CNN en Español. In this interview, she shares her thoughts on the dangers of social media misinformation, what’s really going on with Republican support for former President Trump’s 2024 campaign, and what gives her hope about the future of American political life.
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Recently, you tested positive for Covid-19 on the day the Vice President wascoming on “The View”. What was your first reaction?
We get tested on “The View” practically daily. There has not been a false positive before. The first thing that crossed my mind is keeping Kamala Harris safe, right? She's the Vice President of the United States. I'm not going to be the one who gives Covid to the first woman Vice President. Hell, no. That's not going on my resume.
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So many Hispanic celebrities in this country tend to be entertainers. You’re a serious Latina doing political analyses. It's like, there's this extra weight—
Did you just tell me I carry extra weight? [Laughs.]
What I mean is because you have this seriousness, do you ever feel a responsibility to represent the point of view of the Latino community in ways other celebrities in the community can't?
I don't feel a responsibility to represent the point of view of the Latino community, because I know enough about our community to know that there's not just one. We are not one big blob that does groupthink. It would be incredible hubris and arrogance on my part to think that I speak on behalf of the Latino community. I speak on behalf of myself.
Now, I have learned how much it means to young Latinos to see people who look like them, sound like them, and have similar experiences as them having platforms. I'm not comparing myself to her in any way—but what it means to see Sonia Sotomayor in the Supreme Court. I get stopped a lot by young Latinos who tell me how inspired they are to see somebody like that on national TV. I have a duty to be proud of my heritage and of my experience as a Latina and an immigrant in this country. And I have a responsibility to try to open doors for others.
There was so much misinformation on social media, in general, and particularly to the immigrant diaspora in the 2020 election. As a centrist, what's your take?
The misinformation thing drives me crazy—and it's something that worries me constantly because it really has an effect. Look, it has an effect on elections. It has an effect on vaccinations and the health of our nation. It has an effect on national security. It has an effect on laws that are passed—or not passed—because of misperceptions created by misinformation.
So, if there are people out there who want to believe that Bill and Hillary Clinton are running a sex ring out of the basem*nt of a pizza shop that does not have a basem*nt, can I help you? We need to hammer down on the point: not everything you read is true, and you've got some responsibility to do a little work and make sure that what you're reading is true before sharing.
What are your Republican friends telling you behind the scenes?
I’ve got few Republican friends left who will admit to it in public. I ran into a longtime friend who's in Congress on the plane heading to Washington. He said, ‘When you're here, let's get together.’ I said, ‘I'm going to ruin your reputation. You're going to lose your primary!’
Is the Republican Party genuinely supporting Donald Trump for President in 2024?
Look, there are a lot of people pretending to be supporting Trump because they're afraid of the consequences of publiclynot supporting Trump. They're afraid of Trump's ability to affect primary results.
You think Ted Cruz wants Trump to run? No, he doesn't, because he wants to run. You think Marco Rubio wants Trump to run in 2024? No, he doesn't, because he wants to run. And Rand Paul, he wants to run, and Josh Hawley, he wants to run. But they've got to pretend—for as long as Trump is pretending that he’s going to run—they’ve got to pretend to be all in for Trump. Ron DeSantis—you think he's not lighting candles every day of the week and saying a novena so that Trump doesn't run, so that he can be the nominee? Of course, he is.
But they know that they can't risk the wrath of Trump, because Trump does control the Republican base and Republican primary voters. And then, I do think there's some Republicans who are standing up against it.
What has surprised you most of the post-Trump presidency era?
I truly am surprised by how much control over the Republican Party Donald Trump continues to have, to the point where they do things that are anathema, grotesque, like denying what happened on January 6th. For those of us that come from Latin America, what happened is the kind of thing that might happen in Caracas. But it's not the kind of thing that I’d ever expect to happen in Washington, D.C. at the capitol of the United States.
For Republicans to put their loyalty to Trump above the truth and above the law—and not want to get to the bottom and investigate thoroughly what happened on January 6th, and how it happened, and why it happened, and who funded it, and who promoted it, and who participated? It's an embarrassment. It is shameful.Es una vergüenza. It is unforgivable. It is a lack of backbone in principle, conviction, and integrity that should be disgusting to all Americans. Because protecting our democracy should not be partisan.
Do you think there will be negative consequences for people like Hawley, Rubio, and Cruz for having followed the false narrative that the election was stolen?
Look, I've known Marco Rubio for a long time. I think he's lost his himself. He's lost who he is, who he was, and what he represented to people like me and other Latinos, because he put his loyalty to Trump and his craven political ambitions over his principles.
At the end of the day, the American people can see through the lies, the complicity, and the cowardice. I think they can see it's unseemly, unstatesmanlike, to see these people sucking up to Trump and pretending January 6th didn't happen.
But the polls don't necessarily support that there's been a negative consequence for those who follow the party line that the election was stolen. What keeps you up at night about the current state of US politics?
Nothing. I take melatonin.
What makes you optimistic about the state of American politics?
I speak at a lot of universities. Whenever I talk to young people, I feel better. They seem less hung up with labels and niche politics than we did. They care. They care more.
Some older people might be saying, “Climate change is a hoax.” With young people, you're hard pressed to find a one who thinks it's a hoax, and who doesn't care about issues like climate change—and which they should, because they're going to outlive us.
It gives me hope that César Chávez’s granddaughter is working in the West Wing of the White House as a senior adviser to the President of the United States. She's not there because she's some token. Her name is Julie [Chávez] Rodríguez. She's there because she's worked hard.
I gave some remarks at an event in Washington for Julissa Reynoso Pantaleón. She's a Dominican and came to this country when she was seven years old. She's the Chief of Staff to Jill Biden, the First Lady. And she's about to head out—if she ever gets confirmed by the Senate—as U.S. ambassador to Spain.
That a little immigrant girl from the Dominican Republic can grow up to hold such high positions, that the granddaughter of César Chávez, a guy who led boycotts against grape growers, can grow up to be in the White House advising the President of the United States. There's a lot of progress to be made, but we also must recognize the progress that has been made and celebrate.
Listen to The Revolución Podcast episode featuring Ana Navarro with co-hosts Linda Lane Gonzalez, Kathryn Garcia Castro, Diego Lastra, and Court Stroud onApple Podcasts,iHeartMedia,Spotify,Google Podcasts,Amazon Podcasts, or byclicking here.
