U.S. Senator-elect Raphael Warnock was grilled by “The View” co-host Meghan McCain until fellow co-host Whoopi Goldberg put a stop to the repeated questioning during Warnock’s appearance on an episode of the daytime talk show that aired on Wednesday, Jan. 6. It’s been just two days since McCain returned from a three-month maternity leave following the birth of her first child, and viewers of the show are already unimpressed by her conduct.
After the episode aired, reactions to the questioning poured in on social media. Some viewers even called for McCain to be fired after witnessing her interaction with Warnock.
Warnock made history when he became the first Black man from Georgia to be elected to the U.S. Senate during the state’s Jan. 5 runoff elections.
Goldberg was enthusiastic about Warnock’s win as she introduced him, saying, “I’m knocked out that he is, that Warnock is the man now … He’s gonna make history as the first Black senator-elect in Georgia. It’s nice when America gives something and does something amazing life that … He’s gonna be on with us in about 14 seconds.”
McCain, a Republican and daughter of the late Sen. John McCain, didn’t seem to share her enthusiasm about Warnock’s win. After briefly congratulating Warnock, McCain jumped into a discussion about how the potential transfer of power in the Senate would impact the nation’s ability to strive for unity.
“Progressives across the country are celebrating that your election could mean adding two states eliminating the filibuster and packing the Supreme Court with more members. Your colleague Joe Manchin has joined with Republicans to reject those ideals. Chuck Schumer, this morning, tweeted quote ‘buckle up,’ so you can understand how it’s hard for Republicans like me to believe in the spirit of unity and I want to know will you do the same thing as Joe Manchin and agree not to follow up on all of those things.”
The senator-elect responded, arguing that the people of Georgia are more worried about crucial everyday issues related to survival than about issues like filibusters and packing the courts.
“Well, I’m not focused on any of those things,” he said. “I’ve been on the campaign trail for months and I’ll tell you what ordinary people are asking me about. They’re wondering are they going to lose their health care in the middle of a pandemic. We’ve got 1.8 million Georgians who have pre-existing conditions.”
McCain interrupted to press the issue of packing the courts saying, “Senator, I do believe that average Americans care about packing the courts and I just want to know if you would agree and join Joe Manchin and agree that you’re not for that?”
“My job is to take the concerns that are being raised by my constituent[s],” Warnock reiterated. “And what I’m telling you is that they’re asking about their health care. They’re asking about whether or not they can earn a livable wage; they’re working hard every day. And they’re wondering when they are going to get relief after waiting for it for months.”
As McCain again interrupted in order to revisit her “direct question,” Goldberg stepped in.
“Okay … I’m actually going to end this,” Goldberg said. “We’re going to say thanks to the Senator-elect Raphael Warnock, and we will be right back.” That move by Goldberg may have had to do also with show timing for a commercial break that immediately followed, and, as in the world of television programming, could have been driven in part by show production staff.
Either way, social media users offered praise to Goldberg for intervening.
A graduate of Morehouse College, Warnock has been projected to have won against incumbent Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler by more than 54,000 votes.
Warnock also served as the late John Lewis’ pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church prior to his death in November 2020. He is the first Democratic senator from the state in 20 years.
Democrat Jon Ossoff also won the Senate runoff race — with these two wins giving Democrats control of the U.S. Senate.
