Tension Around McCain Wears Out The View and Fans

The illusion of a civil chat is shattered, Shamira Ibrahim writes
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 16, 2020 5:30 PM CST
The View Has Been Exhausted by the Meghan McCain Tension
From left, Whoopi Goldberg, Sunny Hostin, Joy Behar, Cindy McCain and Meghan McCain appear on the "View" in 2018.   (Lou Rocco/ABC via AP)

Over the years, the 22 permanent co-hosts of The View have had many arguments in anger while the show generally stuck to its mandate as a civil exchange of ideas. But the constant tension around Meghan McCain's presence has made the program hard to watch, Shamira Ibrahim writes in the New York Times. "In the early days after her arrival, her on-air spats made for fun TV," Ibrahim writes. "Now it's just exhausting." The daughter of Cindy McCain and the late Sen. John McCain joined the show as a conservative voice in October 2017. She's now the show's "most polarizing and predictable figure, the common denominator in the show’s most contentious round tables as of late," the Thursday op-ed piece says. Her interactions with her less conservative co-hosts have become sharper, reflected by Whoopi Goldberg's "Girl, please stop talking" last month.

McCain answered Ibrahim in a tweet, addressing the Times: "everyone already knows how much you despise red state, pro life, pro #2A conservative women, and wish we would all just go away." Ibrahim cites indications that the show's audience is tiring of the hostility; an online petition suggests a replacement for McCain. Abby Huntsman, billed as a conservative ally, quit the show this week. McCain has used her isolation on the show to her advantage, Ibrahim says, telling interviewers she expects to be fired because of the political climate, instead of taking responsibility for things she's said. At this point, Ibrahim writes, the idea that we're watching a few friends chatting about politics, which the show still promotes, is hard to buy. (Read the full column.)

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