‘The View’: Meghan McCain and Whoopi Goldberg Go Head to Head Over Bernie Sanders’ Latest Statement

Meghan McCain and Whoopi Goldberg found themselves at odds with each other during most recent “Hot Topics” session on The View.

Tuesday’s episode of the beloved morning talk show took a tense turn after the women disagreed about controversial comments Bernie Sanders made during a CNN town hall on Monday Night related to felons’ rights to vote.

At the event, Sanders said that even “terrible people” like Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and other terrorists and murdered should have voting rights/

“I believe even if they’re in jail they’re paying their price to society but that should not take away their inherent American right to participate in our democracy,” the presidential hopeful said. Vermont, where Sanders is from, is one of two states which allows voting during prison terms.

The comments were not met with approval by most of the women in the morning show panel.

“It doesn’t sound good, it really doesn’t,” Joy Behar said Tuesday, with Abby Huntsman saying it also sounds “crazy” to allow for felons to vote while in prison.

Sunny Hostin added she wasn’t sure Sanders’ position was “appropriate,” TooFab first reported.

“Talking about prison reform and talking about low level crimes like Alice Marie Johnson getting let out of prison, I believe a woman like that should have the right to vote,” Meghan McCain said. “For Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris to go on TV and say that the Boston terrorist deserves any rights in this country after killing three people and injuring 264 in 2013, I think is disgraceful.”

“RNC turn that into an ad,” she added. “It is not hard to say people who commit acts of terror in this country should be punished, but god forbid they should have any rights that any of us have. It is not hard to put lines between terrorists and people who commit low level crimes. It’s not hard to say the Boston terrorist is a psycho lunatic who is a threat not only to national security, but shouldn’t be allowed the right to vote in any elections. It’s not that hard.”

Hostin noted Kamala Harris only said, “I think we should have that conversation,” at the time, though McCain said that the Senator’s response was not “good enough” for her.

Things got more heated between the panelists after the subject shifted to wherever criminals, such as Tsarnaev, should be allowed to vote once they are released from prison.

“If they let this terrorist out because he served his time, he gets, because he’s an American citizen,” Whoopi Goldberg said, before McCain audibly gasped. “Why is your mouth open like that?” asked Goldberg.

“Whoopi, he killed people, he’s a radicalized terrorist,” McCain said.

“Our constitution says, if you’ve done your time, you have, we hope, been reformed, you’ve been changed,” Goldberg added, with McCain still visibly shocked by her colleague’s comments. “If they let him out, that means they feel his time is out and he gets to become an American citizen again.”

“He should never be let out,” McCain responded, to which Whoopi agreed.

“He’s probably never going to get out,” said Goldberg.

“Does anyone at this table think that anyone who’s committed an act of terror that killed three Americans and injured 264 should have the right to vote?” McCain asked, getting visibly heated.

“That’s not the way to ask that question, because this is two different conversations,” Whoopi said. “If you’ve done your time, that’s what prison reform is about. If they let this man out, they are saying he has been reformed, we have fixed him. He’s been rehabilitated.”

“Oh my god, I’m not trying to be disrespectful to any of you,” McCain added as she reiterated her belief that he should never be let out of prison.

“You’re missing the point,” Goldberg responded. “You keep saying, if they let him out. Yes, if they let him out, he gets those rights back. [But] no, he should not get out.”

The panelists could not come to an agreement on the subject, as McCain reiterated her point that terrorists hold not be able to vote under any circumstances.

“For me, I would appreciate it if Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris said there are true monsters in this world and true monsters for me are domestic terrorists, people like that not only shouldn’t have the right to vote,” she said. “I don’t think they should have the right to do anything in this country. They killed Americans.”

“And they should not get out,” Whoopi added before the show went to commercial.

The View airs weekdays at 11 a.m. ET on ABC.