Navarro was born in 1971 in Nicaragua, the daughter of Violeta Flores Lopez and José Augusto Navarro Flores. She and her family moved to the United States in 1980, because of political turmoil. She attended the Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart, a private Catholic college preparatory day school for girls in Coconut Grove, a neighborhood of the city of Miami, Florida, and is a graduate of the University of Miami. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Latin American Studies and Political Science in 1993. In 1997, she obtained a Juris Doctor from St. Thomas University Law School.
Navarro has served in a number of Republican administrations, including the transition team for Florida governor Jeb Bush in 1998. She also served as the national co-chair of the Hispanic Advisory Council for John McCain in 2008 and Jon Huntsman Jr. in 2012. She supported Jeb Bush's 2016 presidential campaign.
She received negative press in 2013 from a statement she made on Meet the Press suggesting that working moms work hard while stay-at-home moms are "kept women" who "want to lean back and be on a rocking chair drinking a mint julep."
In February 2014, she became a political commentator for ABC News.
A clip of Navarro during a CNN panel went viral in October 2016. The video shows Navarro saying "pussy" live on the air while quoting a statement by Donald Trump. In response, a panelist who supported Trump named Scottie Nell Hughes said, “Will you please stop saying that word? My daughter is listening.” Her response was, “Don’t tell me you’re offended when I say ‘pussy,’ but you’re not offended when Donald Trump says it.”
She was a vocal opponent to the 2017 election of Roy Moore to the Senate, due to allegations he may have molested young girls. "This is not about me, it’s about decency and morality,” she continued, “It’s about Republicans and Americans not compromising decency and morality for one vote.” She broke out in song and dance when she learned Moore had lost the election.
Navarro appeared on ABC’s The View in mid-2015 and has since become a recurring panelist.
