Meghan McCain says 'The View' criticism is fueled by sexism: 'I don't think we're treated fairly'
If you think watching an episode of “The View” is a wild ride then just imagine being one of the co-hosts.
“It’s crazy and chaotic and fun — hard and intense and wonderful all at the same time,” says panelist Meghan McCain.
McCain joined the long-running show in 2017 as the panel’s resident conservative voice. “It’s amazing how many young women I’ll meet that are young conservatives in the middle of the country who are like, ‘You’re talking for me, girl! Give ‘em hell!” she shares. “It makes me feel really good and like I’m making an impact,” she adds.
From the start of her tenure on “The View,” McCain has routinely made headlines for her unfiltered political views and on-air disagreements with her mostly liberal co-hosts, but she says those debates are framed differently in the media because it’s a panel of women.
“I don’t think we’re treated fairly,” she says. “I never really cry ‘sexism’ that easily — I’m very hesitant to throw that around,” she adds.
McCain says she is “exhausted” by stories about the panel that pit the co-hosts against each other. “‘Catfight,’ ‘ripped each other’s hair out,’ ‘scream-fest,’ ‘shrill,’ all these things that are used about women on television and in politics and in basically any industry. I wish people would just give us a fair shot because it’s a serious show that’s taken seriously and it has made me more cognizant of how women who are running for president are perceived,” she says.
As for the 2020 election, McCain says Democrats need to step up if they want to win. “If I were betting today I would say Trump is getting re-elected. If the election were today, yes. Democrats are blowing it,” she says. “All they have to do is not be crazy and that was apparently too much for everybody. It’s unbelievable. And shame on everyone for not doing better across the board,” she adds.
In 2018, McCain’s father, Sen. John McCain, lost his battle with cancer. “I miss him dearly,” she says.
McCain was forced to grieve publicly which she says wasn’t always easy.
“People are very kind and people are very cruel. It’s one or the other. People seem very angry that I’m not ‘over it’ and moved on and completely put grief to bed,” she shares. “I think when people sometimes see me get so emotional on-air they don’t think of the context of where I was in my life and what I was doing and sometimes when you go through grief it’s like having your skin ripped off,” adds McCain.
If there’s something McCain wishes people knew about her it’s that she’s more than just her politics.
“I think a lot of ‘The View’ viewers think that I’m just this like ice queen, steel b**ch, that’s like shooting guns and drinking and being crazy,” she says. “I have a very personal side, and I have a warm side and I think that the show doesn’t always do a good job showing everyone’s 360 degrees and that’s just the nature,” she adds.
“I just wish people would give us all a break. Give Joy a break when she’s having a bad day. Give Whoopi a break when she’s having a bad day. That’s also a standard our show is held to that other shows are not,” she says.
But if you think McCain is looking for sympathy, she’s not.
She joked, “Don’t feel bad for me. I mean, I’ve got a cool job too. It’s not so bad.”
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