Meghan McCain Opens up About Her First Election Day Without Her Dad John

While the 2020 presidential election proves to be a monumental moment in American history, the day had a different meaning for Meghan McCain. Following the death of her father, John McCain, in 2018, the battle between Joe Biden and Donald Trump marks the first presidential election she has experienced without her father. On top of that, it’s also her first as a mother, a point she brought up in a heartfelt message she shared on Instagram.

McCain said she is “overwhelmed with nostalgia” on Tuesday and shared that she is going through a full-circle moment in the process. She urged everyone to not let the “divisive fleeting politics of today” take away from the historical impact of an election. “I am so proud to be an American and to have the privilege of living in the greatest country that has ever existed.” To wrap up her post, McCain said elections stand on its own and are not defined by any political party or candidate. Using the words of her father, she concluded, “We’re Americans and we fight, never surrender.”

Ahead of the election and throughout much of the process, McCain hasn’t been shy about where her allegiance lies in the election. Trump has gone on the record to downgrade McCain and his service to the country. In a September tweet, Trump even said “I was never a big fan of John McCain.” Due to the combativeness between Trump and her father, McCain has made it clear Biden has earned her support. The former Vice President even publically consoled The View co-host after her cancer battle in 2017. Talking to Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, McClain referred to Trump as someone who “has made pain in my life a living hell” before saying that Biden “has literally shepherded me through the grief process.”

The widow of the late president also endorsed Biden in October. In a tweet, Cindy McCain wrote that her husband “lived by a code” and that entailed putting a country-first mentality behind everything that he did. Above being a Republican, she said her husband was an American and because of that, she backed Biden, “There’s only one candidate in this race who stands up for our values as a nation, and that is @JoeBiden.”