Meghan McCain‘s blistering rebuke of Iowa Rep. Steve King following his controversial remarks on white supremacy was met with raucous applause from “The View” audience Tuesday.
It was her screeching reminder that she’s indeed the daughter of late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) that had critics ready to pounce on her, however.
“I condemn him!” McCain told her co-hosts of King, 69. “He should step down. He’s a racist and he’s bad for the party.”
Meghan McCain and co-host Abby Huntsman warned against painting all Republicans as “racists” just because they’re in favor of strong border security. (The View / video screenshot)
The Iowa congressman drew backlash from both sides of the aisle for his comments during recent a New York Times interview where he questioned when the terms “white nationalist” and “white supremacist” became offensive. The remarks have since gotten him barred from his House committee assignments for the next two years.
“There’s no place for him anywhere in politics, period,” McCain continued, adding that more Republicans should come out and condemn racist rhetoric. “He should step down … I don’t have the patience for this and I don’t think anyone has tolerance for this. He’s a bad dude.”
Co-host Sunny Hostin agreed, but said it was also high time to condemn President Donald Trump, who she accused of using the border wall as a sort of “dog whistle” to appeal to his base. Moreover, she argued that the president’s top concern has been not letting “all these brown people in,” unless, of course, they’re working in an agricultural capacity.
“So now will the Republican party step up to him and say ‘we don’t want this anymore,” Hostin opined.
Abby Huntsman warned her co-host against painting all Republicans with the same brush and cited a recent ABC News/Washington Post poll showing that 42 percent of Americans are in favor of a border wall between the U.S and Mexico. Just because people want border security in the form of a wall doesn’t make them racists, she argued.
“I think I’ve made myself quite clear about how I feel about President Trump,” McCain chimed in again, noting that she’s against the wall. “I think I have made myself explicitly clear on this show and other places, so please don’t paint me just because I’m for border security that I’m somehow racist in one way or another. I don’t think that’s fair.”
Co-host Joy Behar tried steering the discussion back to King, but McCain was incessant, at one point blurting out, “I’m John McCain’s daughter! I am not someone who sits here and is OK with racism in any way, whatsoever!”
Folks at home weren’t buying it, however, and admonished McCain for her rude behavior. Moreover, her loud outburst only prompted viewers to dig up her father’s problematic past.
“Did @MeghanMcCain think we forgot she was John McCain’s daughter and just wanted to remind us? She’s coo coo for Coco Puffs and very rude,” one Twitter user wrote.
Another critic argued that McCain’s assertion that racism had been dealt with in the 1960s only “showed how entitled and out of touch you are.”
“@TheView you must do something about the rudeness of @MeghanMcCain,” another tweeted. “So what she’s John McCain’s daughter. He fought against making #MLK day a National Holiday. He was not always right.”
“@meghanmccain ur dad voted against Martin Luther King Jr. Day. “Ur a racist so was ur dad.”
As a first-year congressman, the elder McCain — who served two House terms before he began his long Senate career — voted against establishing a holiday to honor the iconic civil rights leader in 1983. His reasoning? He argued that Dr. King shouldn’t be memorialized because “presidents were not recognized,” then cited cost as yet another excuse for his dissenting vote, as reported by Teen Vogue.
Last year around MLK Day, Meghan McCain defended her father, who last his battle with brain cancer last year, against the renewed backlash, saying her dad regretted his previous opposition to honoring MLK Jr. with a federal holiday.
“We all live with regrets and my father points to this and his stance on the confederate flag in 2000 as 2 of them,” she tweeted, adding that she’s still “immensely” proud of her father and his legacy.
Watch more in the clip below.
SHOULD STEVE KING STEP DOWN? The Iowa congressman was removed from committee assignments after backlash to "white supremacy" comments — the co-hosts discuss how the Republican party should move forward. https://t.co/f8u2wc159S pic.twitter.com/Y78OKA7igz
— The View (@TheView) January 16, 2019
