Meghan McCain told her “The View” co-host Joy Behar in a heated exchange on Tuesday that she’s “done a piss-poor job of convincing” her to vote for a Democrat in November’s election.
The back-and-forth comes as Wednesday’s final Democratic primary debate before the Nevada caucuses will feature the first appearance from former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg. The former Republican and billionaire businessman is expected to be the focus of his 2020 rivals as he continues to surge in the polls.
Bloomberg is under heavy criticism over past comments unearthed this week, including some that were racially insensitive and others that sounded dismissive of farmers.
“If Democrats don’t take him out, Republicans will,” McCain declared first flagged by Media Matters. “You want to go up against [President] Trump and you want to take the moral high ground, Democrats? I don’t know if this guy is going to be the one you can put your character up against.”
Behar responded by reeling off some of the insensitive comments Trump has made.
“I’m not defending Trump because I’m attacking Bloomberg!” exclaimed McCain. “I’m supposed to give Bloomberg a pass? Not on this show! Not with this host!”
“I would like to know who you are going to vote for. Who are you voting for?” Behar asked in response.
“Who I vote for is none of your business!” McCain retorted. “But I am not voting for Trump and I sure as hell am not voting for Bloomberg!”
“So you’re not going to vote. So you’re not going to vote. You’re not voting for Trump and you’re not voting for a Democrat. You said that,” Behar shot back.
“You know, you guys have done a piss-poor job of convincing me that I should vote for a Democrat,” McCain replied as fellow co-host Whoopi Goldberg quickly cut to commercial break.
Bloomberg, 78, qualified for Wednesday’s debate following the release of a new NPR–PBS NewsHour–Marist poll early Tuesday.
“Mike is looking forward to joining the other Democratic candidates on stage and making the case for why he’s the best candidate to defeat Donald Trump and unite the country,” Bloomberg’s campaign manager, Kevin Sheekey, said in a statement. “The opportunity to discuss his workable and achievable plans for the challenges facing this country is an important part of the campaign process.”
The NPR-PBS NewsHour poll has Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on top with 31 percent support nationally, followed by Bloomberg with 19 percent, a 15-point jump from the same poll in December.
Former Vice President Joe Biden gets 15 percent support in the poll, a 9-point drop since December.
The Nevada caucuses are set for Saturday.