Since beginning her controversial tenure at the The View two years ago, Meghan McCain has consistently made headlines. Often conflating her identity to being a Republican with a current libertarian politic and personal enemy to Donald Trump, roundtable discussions and interviews have more and more become about Meghan herself as she centers her personal narrative. Granted, she’s a political figure in her own right, as well as the daughter of career politician, war veteran, and 2008 Republican Presidential nominee, the late Senator John McCain. Now there are rumours that she is done with the show.
McCain often paints herself as a victim against liberal thought and the lone conservative voice at the table (not true: Anna Navarro and Abby Huntsman are both Republican and Conservative). What sets Meghan apart is that she generates most of the viral moments deconstructed by the media, on the left and the right, not unlike how her nemesis Donald Trump controls the news cycle. Now, Meghan can have it all ways: mourn and deify her father, be critical of a President she has much in common with and say that liberals must listen to her to win the next election. Of course, this is untrue, but we are living at a time where heads of government are calling real news “fake” while lying and quickly passing legislation that suits their agenda. I’ve never thought that conservatives were stupid- in fact, I strongly feel they know how to manipulate people who look up to them.
The Daily Beast, (McCain has written for them in the past) has done a great job documenting the drama on set and there are all kinds of compilations online pointing out specific times where Meghan has seemed dishonest on air. Then there is the juicy book based on The View, Ladies Who Punch by Ramin Setoodeh. Press around the book focused more on Rosie O’Donnell and what was drawn out from her interviews with the author but Meghan got a mention – and it was about her rumored and often denied feud with outspoken liberal and The View veteran, Joy Behar. Meghan often invokes first wave feminism when she is called out – and it does not work. Of course, there are critiques of her out there that are sexist, but many of the ones that are not sexist are valid. She is decisively pro-life and often forces incredibly oppressive opinions on The View. In fact, her broadcast platform allowed her to re-package her father’s already popular career when he was sick and when he passed away last August. Not all of her positions are problematic though – oftentimes we see her real emotion from her on the show when she is talking about her father, including an incredibly tender moment with Joe Biden in 2017. And she regularly reminds people of the time her father defended Barack Obama at a 2008 campaign rally, when one of his his supporters went off on a racist and Islamophobic rant.
That said, she also asks us often to look past some glaring discrepancies in John McCain’s voting record in the Senate, his often dangerous ability to reach across the aisle to work with Democrats when it suited his agenda, and his irresponsible decision to select Sarah Palin as his running mate. Palin served the purpose he wanted, a polarizing right wing figure and a woman, but she provided a strong assist in the birther movement, lifting up the tea party, and introducing Trump style politics to the mainstream. While the McCain family denied any truth to Game Change, the book and HBO Film about the disastrous Palin decision, they remained unhappy with Palin for years following that, and she was another popular politician not invited to his funeral last August.
I don’t doubt that the women currently at The View table respect Meghan, or at least are happy that the tension generates ratings. Even I have to admit to being disturbed when Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Candace Cameron Bure sat at the table, bored at Jedediah Bila, and I constantly question why Anna Navarro is not a Democrat. But with Meghan, I wonder if everything controversial is genuine or merely for ratings. Two days ago, The View responded to rumours Meghan is leaving the show, stating “The co-hosts and The View have had an incredible season and we expect them all back for an epic year ahead.”
Is this like the talk show equivalent of a cliffhanger?
