Meghan McCainis not a fan of PresidentDonald Trump— justask her— but she’s “grateful” to him for one thing.“If Trump wasn’t president, I don’t think I would be successful here,”theViewco-host said in a new book on the show,Ladies Who Punch, which was published last week.“For that reason, I guess I’m grateful that Trump is president,” McCain continued. “It’s just made my job a little easier because I know why it happened.”Still, McCain, 34, told author Ramin Setoodeh (her friend and former editor) that she didn’t think the president — an unusually polarizing politician — was the reasonThe Viewhad drawn strong ratings.“That I don’t concede to. Everyone is like, ‘Oh, you’re popular because Trump.’ I think everyone is more interested in politics,” she said. “Young women are different now than when I was younger. Everyone is involved, civically engaged, and informed. I think that’s also why the show is doing so well.”“I think the reason I worked and other Republicans didn’t is because I’m the first real Republican that they hired,” McCain said.And she knows how that sounds: “Yes, I think I’m more of a Republican than Elisabeth is.”Meghan McCain.Lou Rocco/ABCSpeaking with Setoodeh, she could hardly name other conservative co-hosts before her: “Nicolle Wallace changed parties. Candace Cameron was a social conservative. I don’t remember the other people who were on here.”Since joiningThe Viewin October 2017, McCain has often the panel’s most conservative voice and its most visible Trump critic, especially as the president has continued to disparage her father, the late Arizona Sen. John McCain, who died of brain cancer last summer.“He [Trump] knows it and I know it and all of you know it — he will never be a great man,” Meghansaid on the show last month. “My father was his kryptonite in life, he’s his kryptonite in death.”Evan Vucci/AP/REX/ShutterstockRELATED VIDEO: Nancy Pelosi Literally Clapped Back at Trump’s State of the UnionDescribing her own politics, Meghan has described herself as “a conservative first and foremost.”“I’m a small government, America-first conservative,” she said onThe Viewin February. “What is being presented to me on the alternative side is too radical for me.”InLadies Who Punch, she compared that certainty of belief to others who had come and gone on the show.“I was born in this environment. I don’t want to be a Democrat,” she said. “I think there were a lot of people they hired that are in the mushy middle, or they are Republicans who are ashamed of being Republicans — or they are intimidated.”Meghan told Setoodeh she was somewhat reluctant to takeThe Viewjob, given its history of getting rid of hosts who aren’t working out. But her father “convinced me to do it.” (A call toViewmoderatorWhoopi Goldbergalso helped: “I called her before I accepted,” Meghan said. “I asked her if she thought I could do this.”)And while she said she “thought I was getting fired for a long time,” she’s been happy to be proven wrong.“I hope it’s in my obituary that I was the first Republican sinceElisabeth Hasselbeckto survive more than one season onThe View,” she said. “It’s one of my proudest moments.”That includes her noted verbal altercations with fellow panelistJoy Behar.“I love sparring with her,” Meghan said inLadies Who Punch. “We’re like boxers; we punch gloves and then we’re out.”
Meghan McCainis not a fan of PresidentDonald Trump— justask her— but she’s “grateful” to him for one thing.
“If Trump wasn’t president, I don’t think I would be successful here,”theViewco-host said in a new book on the show,Ladies Who Punch, which was published last week.
“For that reason, I guess I’m grateful that Trump is president,” McCain continued. “It’s just made my job a little easier because I know why it happened.”
Still, McCain, 34, told author Ramin Setoodeh (her friend and former editor) that she didn’t think the president — an unusually polarizing politician — was the reasonThe Viewhad drawn strong ratings.
“That I don’t concede to. Everyone is like, ‘Oh, you’re popular because Trump.’ I think everyone is more interested in politics,” she said. “Young women are different now than when I was younger. Everyone is involved, civically engaged, and informed. I think that’s also why the show is doing so well.”
“I think the reason I worked and other Republicans didn’t is because I’m the first real Republican that they hired,” McCain said.
And she knows how that sounds: “Yes, I think I’m more of a Republican than Elisabeth is.”
Meghan McCain.Lou Rocco/ABC
Speaking with Setoodeh, she could hardly name other conservative co-hosts before her: “Nicolle Wallace changed parties. Candace Cameron was a social conservative. I don’t remember the other people who were on here.”
Since joiningThe Viewin October 2017, McCain has often the panel’s most conservative voice and its most visible Trump critic, especially as the president has continued to disparage her father, the late Arizona Sen. John McCain, who died of brain cancer last summer.
“He [Trump] knows it and I know it and all of you know it — he will never be a great man,” Meghansaid on the show last month. “My father was his kryptonite in life, he’s his kryptonite in death.”
Evan Vucci/AP/REX/Shutterstock
RELATED VIDEO: Nancy Pelosi Literally Clapped Back at Trump’s State of the Union
Describing her own politics, Meghan has described herself as “a conservative first and foremost.”
“I’m a small government, America-first conservative,” she said onThe Viewin February. “What is being presented to me on the alternative side is too radical for me.”
InLadies Who Punch, she compared that certainty of belief to others who had come and gone on the show.
“I was born in this environment. I don’t want to be a Democrat,” she said. “I think there were a lot of people they hired that are in the mushy middle, or they are Republicans who are ashamed of being Republicans — or they are intimidated.”
Meghan told Setoodeh she was somewhat reluctant to takeThe Viewjob, given its history of getting rid of hosts who aren’t working out. But her father “convinced me to do it.” (A call toViewmoderatorWhoopi Goldbergalso helped: “I called her before I accepted,” Meghan said. “I asked her if she thought I could do this.”)
And while she said she “thought I was getting fired for a long time,” she’s been happy to be proven wrong.
“I hope it’s in my obituary that I was the first Republican sinceElisabeth Hasselbeckto survive more than one season onThe View,” she said. “It’s one of my proudest moments.”
That includes her noted verbal altercations with fellow panelistJoy Behar.
“I love sparring with her,” Meghan said inLadies Who Punch. “We’re like boxers; we punch gloves and then we’re out.”
source: people.com
