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McCain, Kristol battle over Tanden nomination

by Dominick Mastrangelo - 11/30/20 1:02 PM ET

Conservative pundit Meghan McCain slammed fellow conservative Bill Kristol for praising President-elect Joe Biden’s pick for the director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

Biden is reportedly set to nominate Neera Tanden to the post of OMB director. Tanden currently serves as head of the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning think tank and political action group.

“Serious conservatives, responsible moderates, and hard-headed liberals should want a tough-minded OMB head,” Kristol said on Monday. “OMB is where Cabinet secretaries’ ill-considered projects go to die, where programs are evaluated, where trade-offs are made. Neera Tanden is the right person for the job.”

McCain, who was been critical of Biden as he ran for president, snapped at Kristol for embracing the idea of a liberal being nominated to head the agency responsible for balancing the administration’s budget.

“Please don’t insult me and say as a serious conservative I should be supporting the head of the hard-left advocacy group Center for American Progress,” McCain said. “Intellectually dishonest and craven on your part Bill.”

Kristol, a longtime conservative journalist and author, is a key member of the Never-Trump movement in the Republican Party. McCain, the daughter of the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), serves as a co-host on ABC’s “The View” and often offers the program a right-of-center perspective during discussions.

Biden, in addressing the nation several times since being projected as the winner of the presidential election, has promised to unify the country and work as hard for citizens who voted against him as those who did not.

Please don’t insult me and say as a serious conservative I should be supporting the head of the hard-left advocacy group Center for American Progress. Intellectually dishonest and craven on your part Bill. https://t.co/HZ3Eo4u2D8

— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) November 30, 2020