UPDATED: Adios! Au revoir! Bye! Meghan McCain to leave The View after four long years
It's been four years of interruptions, mentioning her father, and off-the-wall hairdos
TV News Meghan Mccain
This could potentially be the best day of Whoopi Goldberg’s life. The queen of daytime hairdos and telling people her dad is John McCain—Meghan McCain—is getting ready to leave The View after four years. According to Page Six, despite having two years left on her contract with ABC, Meghan McCain is “adamant” that she will depart the talk show.
As the conservative viewpoint on the show, McCain consistently interrupted and bickered with her fellow co-hosts Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar, even devolving into a full on screaming match with Behar on-air one day. Goldberg has been visibly exasperated with McCain since her early days on the show. During one particularly heated moment, she told McCain plainly to “just stop talking.” Elizabeth Warren gave a masterclass lesson in ignoring McCain’s tendency to talk over her co-hosts and featured guests, by simply pretending she was not there at all.
The most interesting thing McCain has ever done during her time on the show was debut an array of interesting hair stylings to distract from the emptiness of her oftentimes racist arguments. She did bring a certain viewpoint to The View; she served as their in-house staunch Republican who continued on her father’s legacy for success. Since publishing her 2008 book My Dad, John McCain, it’s become almost a bit how much she mentions him in her arguments.
The DailyMail reported that McCain’s co-hosts were unaware of her departure, at least prior to this morning’s news dropping. It’s also unclear where McCain plans on taking her career next. After establishing herself as the girlboss of conservative media over the last few years, it’s possible she could be moving onto host her own show, or *shudders* begin her career in politics. Either way, Goldberg will be letting out a sigh of relief when she reportedly wraps up at the end of July.
We wonder what her dad, John McCain, would think of this.
Update: McCain opened today’s The View with the announcement of her depature.
“Before I came on this show I didn’t want to join this show, as I think I’ve talked about in the past. It was my dad who encouraged me to do it.” Whoop! There it is. McCain continued, “He said I could never pass on the opportunity to work on such an iconic show to work with Whoopi Goldberg and he was right. It was one of the last things he told me to do before he died.”
She told viewers that her decision was made after thinking about her family, who moved to D.C. over the course of the pandemic, laying down roots following the birth of her first child.
“For the past four years, Meghan McCain has brought her fierce determination and vast political knowledge and experience to The View,” ABC News shared in an official statement. “She recently came to us with her decision to depart the show at the end of this season, a difficult choice that she made for her and her family that we respect and understand. We wish the best for Meghan as she plans her next chapter, and thank her for the passion and unique voice that she shared with us and our viewers each day.”
She told her co-hosts Goldberg, Behar, Sara Haines, and Sunny Hostin she was glad to work beside such “strong, brilliant, intelligent, incredible broadcasters like the four of you.” She also added, “You are the most talented women in all of television, hands down, and it has been so incredible to be able to do with this with you.”
Her co-hosts shared their gratitude towards McCain and her late father, while “joking” about what a “pain in the ass” she’s been. Haines told McCain that she was “tough” before laughing and saying “that’s all I can say on daytime TV.”
She told her co-hosts, fear not, there’s still time to argue before she leaves.
“I will still be here for another month so if you guys want to fight a little bit more, we got four more weeks.”
115 Comments
I wonder what terrible right wing white lady they are gonna get to replace her? The View always needs one
yeah I was about to point out that it’s not like there won’t be another bad faith cryptoracist willing to say “I really think Putin might have a point on this one/I really think Devon Nunes might have a point on this one/I really think Matt Gaetz might have a point on this one” every day.
The trick is finding one who hasn’t gone full bomb thrower yet, otherwise they’d get Dana Loesch or Megan Kelly. I’d love to see Whoopie and Behar square off vs Diamond and Silk, though. It would be too combustible to last long, but it would be entertaining.
I’d love to see Whoopie and Behar square off
Whether intentional or not, take a star for a Whoopie Hollywood Squares reference.
I’d love to see Whoopie and a bear square off
I think you misspelled Megyn. Or, more accurately, I think her parents misspelled Megan, which I guess is one of the least important mistakes they made.
That was my first thought too. As annoying as McCain has been, she isn’t nearly as bad as it gets. Buckle up.
I doubt she’d take the job but for sure some producer at ABC is talking with Ivanka’s people to gauge interest.
Ugh. This feels way too plausible. Probably not now, but in, like, two years, when memories are faded and people start saying things like, “You know, Ivanka always was the reasonable Trump.”
Assuming she isn’t going to prison for her involvement with the Trump organization
Assuming she isn’t going to prison for her involvement with the Trump organizationHow excited should I be about the latest charges?
I mean probably not that excited but we can always dream
Damn.
Ivanka, the reasonable one? Lolno. Tiffany though. . . she managed to be completely invisible until like the last 2 months, and her cheerleading wasn’t that memorable. She’d easily be able to slip into Meghan’s shoes.
Oh fuck, maybe just Tiffany instead? I have no idea if she’s as bad as Ivanka.
Candace Owens
The Becky Brigade is about to Begin! I for one can’t wait to see this “selection” “play out”. Candance Owens might be the surprise Becky in these Faux’lympics.
NOOO!!!
Megyn Kelly could use the work.
And the other hosts won’t have to get used to a new first name!
But McCain has something you just can’t replicate – a well known dad that she can use to give herself legitimacy.
Liz Cheney has entered the chat.
ZOM-BIE! THATCH-ER!
ZOM-BIE! THATCH-ER!
Oh, my God, you’re probably right. That’s exactly what they’ll do to get the clicks.
My money’s on Kellyanne Conway, Megyn Kelly, or Kayleigh McEnany. Basically, they’re going to find some way to give a platform to an open fascist.
They try to get self-identifying “conservatives” and “Republicans,” too, but there aren’t very many of those left that aren’t also at least white supremacist sympathizers.
“terrible” and “right wing” are redundant. And I’m sure there are a lot of Fox News blondes that have been used up by that machine.
I know you’re joking with that statement but that is entirely ture. Without her, the View is an echo chamber. It’s designed to have conservatives and liberals talk about things. That’s the definition of the show. If you’re only interested in hearing liberal takes on the news, then you’re not so far removed from the conservsatives in congress who don’t even want to discuss the January 6th commission.
If you hate Meghan McCain, than keep in mind that she’s one of the better representative voices of the demographic she represents. She and her mom were censured by the state of Arizona Republican Party. So, are you uncomfortable with any Republican voice on the View?
Whoppi Goldberg in whiteface would somehow be less offensive and more rational
She’s moving to DC to be with her douchebag husband and their families full time. She’ll be on Fox, OANN or Newsmax within a year.
she already lives in DC
CNN loves paying people like Scaramucci, who have no actual expertise, maybe she’ll go there
I’m shocked the others put up with her for so long.
Considering this is the only place I ever saw her name mentioned, I’m sure yall will still find a way to keep tabs on her for no fucking reason.
I can’t remember, am I supposed to hate her?
yep
She’s no Ellie Kemper, but yes.
You mean disgraced KKK Princess and verified* kitten strangler Ellie Kemper?*Okay, not verified verified, but we here at the AV Club believe our strong feelings on the issue are verification enough
Wait, I thought this was the best day of Whoopi Goldberg’s life
I remember that shitshow.
She claims she thought this was hilarious and told Danson to do it
So he was just following orders then? I don’t think that makes it ok.
Uhm… Being advised by Whoopi Goldberg isn’t quite “following orders”. Danson should still regret this and all, but your hyperbole is a bit much here.
It was 1993! Racism was over! We had just elected our first black president! https://www.huffpost.com/entry/happy-71st-birthday-president-bill-clinton-the-first_b_5995dd63e4b02eb2fda31dfe
https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/books/toni-morrison-defended-championed-chastised-presidents-n1039591
So stupid anyone ever said that. There was also some like “Year of the Woman” label when 4 total or something had been elected back then. Ugh
If Toni Morrison says it, it must be true! There was also some like “Year of the Woman” label when 4 total or something had been elected back then. UghIt was five! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_of_the_WomanIs it any wonder Bikini Kill was in their heyday right then?
Oof. For some reason, I never knew that it was Toni Morrison who said that. What a bummer.
Whoopi did seem to think it was hilarious and provocative at the time. She emerged from experimental theater so maybe that’s her sensibility. Still, Danson was a fucking idiot for doing that even in the pre-enlightened 90s and even with an African American girlfriend’s “permission”…
I’m surprised there’s not some white around his nostrils as well as his lips.
IMO it’s obvious she’s going into politics. She has a lot of terrible opinions but, to her credit, she’s not homophobic nor transphobic, which means she might be a perfect fit for the GOP to pretend that they aren’t fucking elitist hatemongers. “Hey we’re not evil as shit, look! We have an LGBT ally!”
Well…
What does he want me to do to the bathrooms?
Nothing. We all just poop outside now.
Transmogrify them.
I know it’s the Federalist, an online magazine for people who think a semicolon makes the nonsense on either side of it respectable, but what the fuck are they talking about? There’s no such thing as a “Trans Bathroom” and never has been. Did they mean “Create Trans Bathrooms” and forget how time works? Or do they want to prevent trans people from using any bathroom at all, which is silly – you have to use the bathroom as long as you’re alive…Oh. Oh.
“an online magazine for people who think a semicolon makes the nonsense on either side of it respectable”I had to reread that phrase several times to appreciate it, it was so original and spot-on.
“an online magazine for people who think a semicolon makes the nonsense on either side of it respectable”I had to reread that phrase several times to appreciate it, ; it was so original and spot-on.Just joshin’ ya, Godot. I, too, loved MiFroChi’s turn of phrase.
There was a brief moment when she was supposed to be the new face of the Republican party. “The new generation of Republicans is OK if you’re gay and doesn’t care if you smoke pot! Here’s Megan McCain to prove it!”
Then the Tea Party came along and so much for that vision.
I’m skeptical of that. She lacks any charisma and is too thin-skinned. Political campaigns are grueling death marches and way too much work for a nepotism princess that has coasted along on a low stakes talk show. She has had several meltdowns with coworkers that tried to be amiable.
Her “my dad’s John McCain” got her on a lightweight TV show, but it doesn’t seem like her nepotism powers would give her any stroke with today’s Republicans, right? I mean, they even turned on Dick Cheney’s daughter, and he wasn’t even a libtard enemy of Trump like John McCain was.
Easy money places her at Fox (etc.), but … does anyone like her? Or, does anyone like her? Not sure where to place the emphasis there. She might just be the anti-Dolly Parton, uniting conservatives and normal humans in a shared revulsion.
That is the problem with TV execs — they confuse fireworks with talent. If you poke through the weird third and fourth tier streaming offerings — the sub-Crackle channels — you’ll come across plenty of news/sports/entertainment shoutfests that nobody watches. Even the panel shows on CNN get lousy ratings in historical terms.
Every year ABC devoted to McCain was a lost year in finding someone more talented and more appealing. But when there’s a fixed idea that one note droning is how you operate, you end up with years of Cindy McCain. Or whatever the hell that show was I saw for three minutes on the USA Today channel.
Every year ABC devoted to McCain was a lost year in finding someone more talented and more appealing. Yes, but every argument with Whoopi et al generated massive clicks, hype, and some dough; hence ABC wanting her to stay on the show.
That argument gets trotted out all of the time, but it’s wrong. For an exec the goal of any TV performer is not to simply be on the roster. They need to better than someone else who could be hired, and ratings with Ana Navarro filling in while McCain was on leave were equal or better.TV is struggling because execs have been hung up on preserving a dwindling status quo, and if the goal was simply to create sparks, there was no value to keeping McCain instead of a Roomba with a bluetooth speaker on top scuttling around the studio.
Let’s take a moment to reflect on the idea that one of her last conversations with her father, while he was dying of a brain tumor, was about whether she should be on The View. I guess they got through sports and weather, and they needed to talk about something?
The Maverick: “My… dearest daughter… you must work… with Whoopi… ehhhhhhhh.”Dr. Hugh Incredible [one of the best doctors in the world, paid for by us, because McCain served poorly in the military, and then became a warmongering politician who once did a thumbs-down on Trump’s abject cruelty, so it’s all good]: He gone.
I don’t think of the Republicans as caring about disability rights, but it was nice of them to set the bar so low that an elderly man dying of a brain tumor could step over it.
“..be-be sure to remind everyone I’m your father every chance you get…” *Flatlines*
I actually understand that, when you know someone is terminally ill you will occasionally talk about something normal and mundane to help them feel normal. I mean, she still is doing her trademark “remember my dad?” thing – going by her propensity to drag him into the conversation, I don’t think she made a decision on her own until 2018 – but I also had a lot of conversations with my dad about mundane shit before he died, because we still wanted to feel normal.
“You must go on The View, my child! Only then will the ancient curse on our family be lifted!”
We could just emphasize the whole thing and add an interrobang.Does anyone like her?!I feel like this question cannot be underscored enough.
*comment starred by Cindy McCain
*comment starred by Cindy McCain… …after calling the police on a woman of color for standing in the general vicinity of a white child. Or a white woman standing next to a child of a different race. Either way—because the price of freedom is eternal vigilance and racial profiling.
lmao
I don’t know, didn’t CNN just drop Rick Santorum? I’m sure they’re looking for a new conservative voice so they can appear balanced. She would seem to fit that card nicely…. Especially since she’s perceived as more moderate.
Yes, most people outside of the intellectual bubble of the AV Club do like her.
Her job is to provide a conservative point of view. That’s the the basic essence of The View is to have contrasting view points. So there’s literally no way she could do her job on The View without most of this crowd hating her, and that is kind of sad
I assume she’s leaving the show so she can dedicate more time to her royal duties?
Didn’t she actually go to high school with McCain?
Indeed they did. However, Wikipedia has Aidy Bryant’s birthday as 1987, and McCain’s as ‘84. So, it seems unlikely they knew each other any more than passing each other in the hall.
Wikipedia also has Aidy Bryant as incredible, and McCain as… not.
There’s a small part in Raoul Peck’s documentary series, Exterminate All The Brutes where he laments how American TV became less and less intellectual. It used to have smart people and debates on. It does no longer. From the clips of McCain I saw, she was an idiot. If The View wants to throw a curveball, hire someone with a PhD and intellectually formidable to replace her.
That would risk showing how dumb Whoopie is. They need someone dumb and conservative so that people focus on how reasonable Whoopie seems.
Good ole reasonable Whoopie ‘It wasn’t rape-rape’ Goldberg.
I think you mean “dumb but not so loud that they completely obliterate discourse”.All conservatives are dumb.
How good is Exterminate All The Brutes??
It’s pretty good. You’ll have to get used to Peck’s gravel voice, but he narrates a compelling piece of colonial and white supremacist history interspersed with his own memoir as a kid discovering racism. The map graphics, showing things like the Atlantic slave trade, are great. He goes into pop culture representations of whitewashed history. There are fictional scenes starring Josh Hartnett. I knew some of the history but not all of it. Would recommend.
Sorry, I should have added a third question mark to drill home the rhetorical nature of my question. Or, I could have just written something different, haha.I meant to say, “Isn’t Exterminate All The Brutes great?”I really enjoyed it, and I totally agree with your review.
Ha, I only noticed your second question mark and the possibility that you were saying the show was great after I posted about its quality.Yeah, it was great. I’ve become a Peck fan with two projects ( I Am Not Your Negro was fantastic). Looking forward to what he does next.
Haha, all good. I need to remember that this is the Internet and that it’s best to be as crystal-clear as possible. Or not. Whatever. Either way. It’s all good. #blessed :)And yeah, I Am Not Your Negro was so good. My wife is reading Eddie Glaude, Jr.’s book about James Baldwin right now—she really enjoys it.
“smart” took a backseat to “debate”https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gore_Vidal#The_Buckley%E2%80%93Vidal_feud
I saw this movie in the theater. Pretty good.
If you think the problem with TV debate lies entirely with the token right-wingers in the room… you might want to re-read some basic debate and logic texts.
Just to show how much these shows blend together, I had to do a double take at the “ABC” part of the article because I swore it was a CBS show. I even confused it with The Real, which I forgot even existed until an article about a week ago.
Whatever you do, don’t forget about The Talk.
Woo Nepotism Mayo Girl gonna get a job at Fox, maybe?Her dad was a horrible person and so is she.
She might be worse than him, only because she much dumber. Maybe worse is the wrong word, infuriating?
What do Meghan McCain and maggots have in common?They both live off her dead father.
do you mean four long years or four LONG!!!!! years?
I like that this story is phrased like we all watch the View everyday and the last 4 years has been horrible for us.
This woman is the living, breathing embodiment of nepotism. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but it may be an even more glaring example than the Trump Klan. The Trumps are at least pretending that they’re working – that they’re business geniuses and political masterminds. Like, they’re entitled grifters riding on coattails, but they’re putting some elbow grease into it. They can all die in a fire of cancer and AIDS but I’ll grant you – they worked to earn my hate. McCain’s entire MO is basically “my dad was John McCain.” That’s about it. I can’t say I hate her. It’s like she’s a non-entity. She’s not important enough to hate.
Did somebody say “my father?”
10/10
Oh, wow, the screen capture of McCain on that video… Priceless.
Also:
it’s fine to have a different point of view. it’s not fine to be an asshole. also, for someone on tv, she has horrible hair.
Someone posted on Twitter, with pics, that the hair and makeup team on the View must hate her guts, which I thought was hilarious, and accurate.
People ask the old man why he didn’t watch women’s basketball. He said if he wants to watch some slow women miss point after point, he would watch The View.
I remember after the ‘08 election, I read an interview in Playboy where Meghan McCain said she basically sat out the last few weeks of her father’s campaign. She rented a house and played Guitar Hero with her girlfriends. She then went on to say she’d think the country would be in a better place now if her father had won but didn’t say how.
I have been thoroughly unimpressed ever since.
She did say however she probably would’ve been a pain-in-the-ass to the press if her father had gotten elected. I agreed with her on that part.
Since publishing her 2008 book My Dad, John McCainIs that really what she named her book? It sounds like something a comedy news site might make up based on how she likes to introduce herself to strangers.
it seriously does
I have no doubt this was her personal decision to leave, as the execs at ABC knew all the dramatics between Behar and her were great for ratings and publicity. She sort of became a “love to hate” figure among certain political sectors. Also, regarding her constant interrupting and name-dropping of her dad, one of my favorite tweets about this went something like:Priest: “Our Father, who art in Heaven..”Meghan McCain: “MY father, John McCain…”
Is it okay if I don’t like the rest of them either?
The thing is, there aren’t many conservatives who fit in that weird space The View wants. Someone who grew up in a nominally liberal culture and knows liberal institutions (because her family is rich and she went to Columbia) but is conservative (because Daddy). So she can’t go too far on the culture stuff because she lives in NY and most of her social circle, statistically, has had abortions, is LBGTQ, not white, or not Christian.
There’s no excuse to name-drop your father that much unless he invented toaster struedel.