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Meghan McCain Deals with Fierce Backlash Over Angry Rhetoric with Touching Photo of Late Father 

Meghan McCain is making it through a tough week by relying on the beautiful memories of her father. The talk show host honored her father’s memory Friday with a touching Instagram post marking nearly two months since the Arizona senator passed away.

“Sixty-two days,” McCain said of her late dad, Sen. John McCain. “I miss absolutely everything about you. I miss our FaceTiming the most this morning.”

Meghan McCain

(Image courtesy of Instagram)

The elder McCain, a Vietnam war veteran, died in August after a year-long battle with brain cancer. He was 81 years old. His daughter stepped out of the spotlight and took leave as a co-host of ABC’s “The View” after his transition, but returned to the show in early October to the pleasure of her devoted fans.

“So very thankful you are on the view,” one woman wrote. “You’re such an incredible and strong human being.”

In the past, McCain has gotten flak for her on-air tantrums and angry rhetoric during debates with co-hosts Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin and Abby Huntsman. Social media critics griped about her presence at the roundtable and even begged ABC to kick her off the show. Her month-long hiatus after her father’s passing came as a relief to some.

McCain proceeded to ruffle feathers Wednesday when she compared recent bomb threats against several prominent Democrats and CNN to Trump officials and members of the GOP being heckled out of restaurants by angry protesters. By the next day, the former Fox News contributor had changed her tune and acknowledged her participation in the angry political rhetoric helped divide America.

McCain, 33, specifically recalled the time she adopted President Donald Trump‘s “Crooked Hillary” moniker to mock former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

“I’ve been doing so much soul searching in my life in so many different ways right now,” she began. “… I said I hate Hillary Clinton, and I called her ‘Crooked Hillary.’ And it’s one of the things I regret doing, because I contributed on television. Now, this isn’t saying that I agree with her. I have many vast differences of opinion on philosophy and ideology, and I didn’t think she was a great candidate. But hate is not a word that should be coming out of my mouth on television about someone of a different political persuasion.”

McCain then called on the mainstream media to hold themselves accountable to “the same standard that I would like to hold the president.”

“I implore everyone else in media, because I think we should cop to our mistakes. And I’m damn sure going to continue doing what my father did,” she added. “I thought, ‘What have I done to contribute to the polarization in this country?’ And that is one thing that I can own that I did, and I regret it.”

The reactions to McCain’s admission was swift and some a bit ugly.

“When she said that I stopped watching. I catch bits of it on twitter, but Hillary was always respectful to her father and MM was so vicious when she said it. Trump was so disrespectful to her father and she defends him! Go figure.,” noted on viewer.

Another added, “By the way, you should have Hillary Clinton and Chelsea on the show so that Meghan can apologize to her face to face, just like you made Joy apologize to Mike Pense! I was a veteran watcher of the View, and I just can’t anymore. I do hope things change so I can watch again.”

“Your father was sick last year when you said that Ms McCain!!! Too late”

Not everyone was ready to dump “The View” because of McCain,

“Good for you, Megan. Thank you for trying to end the divisiveness in this country. Your dad would be proud.”

“I am a proud @HillaryClinton supporter myself. With that in mind, at least @MeghanMcCain admits her mistakes Vs @realDonaldTrump who doesn’t see his own mistakes. He doesn’t how to say sorry for shit.”

Watch more in the clip below.

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