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She wasn't on the show on Monday.
By Rebekah Kuschmider — Written on Mar 09, 2020
The View was short a co-host on Monday and fans are wondering if something is up with that. Meghan McCain wasn't in her usual chair and some are wondering if she has left the show.
While there has always been turnover in the cast of the long-running talk show, there is also usually an announcement when someone decides to leave. The most recent departure was Abby Huntsman, who told audiences directly that she would be leaving to go help her father's political campaign. McCain is usually pretty direct in her discourse so it seems highly unusual for her to make a decision like leaving the show without saying anything to her fans, either on-camera or on social media. However, there's a lot of history for the 35-year-old daughter of the late Senator John McCain and she might have finally reached a breaking point and decided to cut her losses.
Did Meghan McCain quit The View? Read on for all the details.
1. McCain often gets into arguments on air.
While the whole basis of The View is for women of different perspectives to discuss the issues of the day, McCain has a reputation for taking it a bit too far while the cameras are rolling.
She famously clashed with Joy Behar 2018 during a discussion about Trump voters. "I really come here every day open-minded, just trying to explain it, and it’s not a fun job for me every day.” Behar dismissively replied with a sarcastic “aww” sound. McCain snapped at her colleague, saying “Oh, don’t feel bad for me, b****, I’m paid to do this, okay?”
In 2019, she and Whoopi Goldberg got into it when Goldberg asked McCain to give other people a chance to talk. McCain had been talking over co-host Sunny Hostin and Goldberg attempted to moderate the discussion so everyone could have a chance to be heard. McCain jumped to the conclusion that Goldberg was trying to silence conservative viewpoints, to which Goldberg napped, "Girl! Please stop talking! Please stop talking right now!”
“No problem. I won’t talk for the rest of the show,” McCain retorted. Goldberg responded, “I’m OK with that if you’re going to behave like this.” Producers reportedly had to speak with McCain during a commercial break to get her back on-topic for the rest of the show.
McCain used social media to defend her argumentative style.
2. Some fans think McCain drove Abby Huntsman off the show.
Abby Huntsman and McCain shared history as well as ideology. Both come from political families: McCain's father, John McCain, was a Senator from Arizona and was once the Republican Party's candidate for President, losing to Barack Obama in 2008. Huntsman's father Jon Huntsman also ran for president once and was Governor of Utah as well as being Ambassador to China and Ambassador to Russia.
But in spite of having so much in common, they couldn't always see eye-to-eye. The hosts once clashed when McCain tried to make her own experience in politics the centerpiece of an argument about impeachment. McCain tried to brush off an opinion of Huntsman's, implying that it was naive. Huntsman shot back, "Well, I’ve also been in politics. [It’s] my upbringing too and a lot of people have been around politics or know politics, whether you have family or not. This show is about opinions.”
Huntsman decided to leave the show to help her father with his campaign for governor in Utah, though some fans wondered if the general negative vibe on set was a contributing factor in her choice to leave.
McCain and Hunstman.
3. McCain hasn't been close to the rest of the cast for a while.
After Huntsman left, McCain found herself feeling alone in the cast. A source told reporters that McCain's antics on air have left her fellow co-hosts unwilling to hang out with her. She had a longstanding relationship with Huntsman and expected her to remain her friend and ally but by January, even Huntsman has lost patience.
“They aren’t speaking to each other. It’s been about a month. None of the ladies talk to Meghan now. Abby was the last woman standing. It’s bad. Meghan’s so rude,” the source told reporters. "Abby tolerates Meghan, but she doesn’t genuinely like her. Their friendship has soured.” Huntsman decided to leave shortly after that.
4. McCain hinted at what it would take to make her leave the show last week.
Last, week, Whoopi Goldberg brought up a blast from the past of The View. Goldberg commented that Elisabeth Hasselbeck lived near where tornadoes had done severe damage in Tennessee recently. The women all remembered Hasselback fondly, especially McCain. Hasselbeck represented the conservative side on the show for ten years before leaving to pursue other interests. McCain remarked, "She’s the only woman I would give up my chair for. She can sit in the conservative chair anytime. She’s the OG. I love her.”
Hasselbeck is scheduled to sit in as a guest host on March 11.
5. McCain skipped the taping on Monday.
When The View hit airwaves on March 9, McCain was noticeably absent. This brought with it the usual commentary from fans of the show who either love or hate the volatile host. One Twitter user was all-caps delighted not to see her, saying "THANK GOD MEGHAN MCCAIN IS NOT ON THE VIEW TODAY! SHE GETS ON MY NERVES AND TALKS TOO MUCH!" Another user sent her an encouraging message, saying "I think your [sic] great. Your outnumbered every day at the view. Besides your the only one who knows what goes on behind the scenes in politics. Sometimes its hard to stand up for whats right." Another Twitter user tweeted in 2019, "I never thought I’d say this but #TheView needs to bring back #elisabethhasselbeck because @MeghanMcCain s the epitome of unprofessional."
6. Did Meghan McCain quit The View? There's no update on her social media.
The last tweet McCain sent was on Sunday night and she was, surprisingly, sharing a story a journalist tweeted about a positive interaction he had with Senator Elizabeth Warren. On her Instagram, her most recent post is a picture of a bottle of hand sanitizer on the set of The View from two days ago. There's nothing to indicate she's contemplating any sort of a career change.
On the show this morning, Goldberg didn't even hint that any big announcements were coming. She simply noted that McCain was off and would be back later in the week.
Will Meghan McCain be back in her chair tomorrow? Fans will have to wait and see.
Rebekah Kuschmider has been writing about celebrities, pop culture, entertainment, and politics since 2010. She is the creator of the blog FeminXer and she is a cohost of the weekly podcast The More Perfect Union.