Andrew Yang Warns Raid Could Backfire And Help Trump — New Host Of ‘The View’ Agrees

One-time Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang warned on Tuesday that the FBI raid of former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate could backfire and help him politically — and newly-named “The View” cohost Alyssa Farah Griffin agreed.

Yang laid out his case in a series of tweets, arguing that whether or not the raid was justified, it appeared to the general public to be politically motivated — and that, he said, would only help to galvanize Trump supporters who already believed that the system had been rigged against him from the beginning.

It seems like this was authorized by a local judge and a particular FBI office without buy-in or notification of higher levels of government. But literally no one will believe that or make a distinction. It’s probably bureaucratic but it seems political.

— Andrew Yang🧢⬆️🇺🇸 (@AndrewYang) August 9, 2022

“I’m no Trump fan. I want him as far away from the White House as possible. But a fundamental part of his appeal has been that it’s him against a corrupt government establishment. This raid strengthens that case for millions of Americans who will see this as unjust persecution,” Yang began.

He went on to explain that no matter what the actual justification was for the raid of Mar-a-Lago, most people would have a hard time seeing past the political appearance to recognize that.

“It seems like this was authorized by a local judge and a particular FBI office without buy-in or notification of higher levels of government. But literally no one will believe that or make a distinction. It’s probably bureaucratic but it seems political,” he said.

Quoting a piece from Politico, he added, “‘If they raided his home just to find classified documents he took from The White House,’ one legal expert noted, ‘he will be re-elected president in 2024, hands down. It will prove to be the greatest law enforcement mistake in history.'”

“If they raided his home just to find classified documents he took from The White House,” one legal expert noted, “he will be re-elected president in 2024, hands down. It will prove to be the greatest law enforcement mistake in history.” https://t.co/xMznFPn0UG

— Andrew Yang🧢⬆️🇺🇸 (@AndrewYang) August 9, 2022

Alyssa Farah Griffin, who previously worked in the Trump White House and was recently tapped to fill the lone conservative seat on ABC’s “The View,” offered a similar assessment during a Tuesday morning appearance on CNN’s “New Day.”

WATCH:

"This, I’m hoping, goes beyond simply not complying with some archiving laws, or DOJ just handed Donald Trump the Republican nominee and potentially the presidency," says new "The View" host Alyssa Farah Griffin. pic.twitter.com/pAxeSkbl5U

— Virginia Kruta (@VAKruta) August 9, 2022

“This, I’m hoping, goes beyond simply not complying with some archiving laws, or DOJ just handed Donald Trump the Republican nominee and potentially the presidency,” she told anchors Brianna Keilar and John Berman. “If it’s seen as some sort of massive overreach and not something incredibly serious, this is a very good day for Donald Trump.”

“By the way, he knows how to play this up in his favor. He more or less broke this news,” she continued, noting that the former president had gone public with a statement about the raid almost as soon as people began reporting that it was underway.

“A Florida-based reporter had something, but he was ready to go, I’ve actually seen quite — kind of aligned messaging among Republicans. ‘This is, you know, a banana republic,’ ‘this shouldn’t happen,’ ‘if they do it to a president, the FBI will do it to you,'” she continued. “I think he’s having a good day as of now, so I hope the FBI’s buttoned up on this.”