Co-host of “The View” Meghan McCain decried what she described as sexism baked into media coverage of ABC’s leading political daytime talk program as she announced her departure from the show at the end of its current season.
“My final note to the world watching, the show will continue, the show will probably be here … long after we’re all long gone,” McCain said on Thursday as the panel wrapped up a discussion about her decision to leave. “The media needs to do a better job of covering the women on this show in general. As Joy pointed out, it is not a fair fight. We are covered with deep misogyny and sexism by the media.”
If five men “were doing what we do on this show every day,” McCain added, “I really do believe we would have a Pulitzer Prize at this point.”
McCain noted the women on the show have interviewed some of the most prominent celebrities, politicians and other newsmakers from both sides of the political spectrum in recent years.
Video clips of panelists’ arguments with one another on political, social and cultural issues often go viral on social media and earn headlines from the nation’s leading news organizations.
Coverage of the show overall, the daughter of the late Republican senator and the lone conservative on the panel said is “always reduced to really reductive coverage. And I implore the media to do better as they cover the rest of you going forward.”
With the other four women on Thursday’s panel nodding in agreement as McCain spoke, co-host Joy Behar quipped: “No one wants to watch five men do this, Meghan,” sparking laughter from the other co-hosts.
“They’ve tried that with five men talking,” Behar shrugged. “Nobody cares.”
“Fair enough,” McCain responded with a smirk.
Co-host Whoopi Goldberg, who earlier during McCain’s announcement praised her for joining the show as a young political pundit and analyst, said, “When you leave this show, you can take on anything.”
At the top of Thursday’s broadcast, McCain confirmed reports earlier that morning that she was leaving the program at the end of its current season, saying she had grown accustomed to her life in metro D.C., where she has lived since getting pregnant, and did not wish to return to New York City following the coronavirus pandemic.
McCain recently gave birth to a baby girl.