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The View in Review

Meghan McCain Takes Down the GOP: 'They're Shivving' Liz Cheney for Not Supporting 'Cheeto Jesus'

  • Meghan McCain railed against her own party Wednesday on The View (ABC)
    Meghan McCain railed against her own party Wednesday on The View (ABC)

    Meghan McCain took her own party to task Wednesday morning on The View during an impassioned monologue about the GOP's treatment of Rep. Liz Cheney. For nearly three minutes, McCain railed against Congressional Republicans for "shivving" Cheney for "refusing to debase herself to Cheeto Jesus," and she asked her co-hosts what she should do now that the Trump-supporting GOP has declared her politics unwelcome. "Go ahead with the sausage fest of MAGA up on Capitol Hill, pull her out and put another woman in who will do and say anything you want for President Trump," said the conservative. "See where this lands us in midterms."

    McCain has spent the past few days tweeting about the GOP's attempt to strip Cheney of her leadership role, so it was no surprise that she was fired up come Wednesday morning. "Let's cut the crap," she said, after Whoopi Goldberg played a clip of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy saying that he's "lost confidence" in Cheney. "He wasn't caught on a hot mic. I think anyone in politics knows that was done intentionally."

    "What's happening is, it's very clear -- and I'm going to be a little crass -- they're shivving her for going on television multiple times and saying that the election wasn't stolen," continued McCain. "I don't understand what's going on. I have spent the past five years of my life trying to accept, understand, and include the MAGA base of this party. And the message that's being sent by the highest member of Republicans in Congress is that women like me and Liz Cheney who refuse to bend the knee to President Trump but still remain loyal Republicans, we don't have a place in this party. We are worthless, we are not worth fighting for to keep."

    McCain insisted that it's "Kafka-esque" to pretend like the Cheney controversy is about "anything else but her not supporting President Trump," who leadership has deemed "the future" of the Republican party. "What happened when we doubled down that Trump is the future? We lost four -- count them -- four Senate seats in the last election in red states, including in my home state of Arizona. We lost a giant election, spectacularly!"

    "Instead we are going to blood-let the party from women like me? College-aged women that lost you the election in the first place?" asked McCain. "It's the most asinine politics I have seen in a really, really long time in a cacophony of asinine politics ... If you do this, which it looks like they're going to do, I promise you there are going to be consequences."

    When Goldberg tried to throw the discussion to Joy Behar, Meghan interrupted and asked her co-hosts for advice about how to move forward with a party that seems to have rejected her. "What do you suggest women like me do, all of you? I don't know what to do any more," said McCain (for what it's worth, she noted that she won't become a Democrat, as she's "not a leftist"). "I was so emotional last night. I'm emotional now. I have stuck this out and stuck this out and stuck this out."

    No one was quite sure how to answer McCain's question, but at the very least, her rant inspired some unity among the co-hosts. "This is now the Republican party vs. Democracy. That's why you're upset today, because you know that's true," said Behar.

    "I do know that's true," replied McCain. "And by the way, this is a good morning for you, because you should feel very good about the midterms going forward. Because we're going to lose this thing if this is the direction they're going."

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    Claire Spellberg Lustig is the Senior Editor at Primetimer and a scholar of The View. Follow her on Twitter at @c_spellberg.

    TOPICS: The View, Meghan McCain, politics