Meghan McCain's 'View' Hairstyles Mocked by MSNBC Host Amid Race Criticism

Meghan McCain has once again put her foot in her mouth on The View. McCain drew ire when she [...]

By Alyssa Fikse

Meghan McCain has once again put her foot in her mouth on The View. McCain drew ire when she failed to recognize her own privilege while addressing the comments the Senators Tammy of Duckworth of Illinois and Mazie Hirono of Hawaii made regarding the lack of Asian and Pacific Islander representation in President Joe Biden's cabinet. "We've only had one Asian American host co-host host this show," McCain said. "Does that mean one of us should be leaving because there's not enough representation? We're talking about — is identity politics more important than the qualifications for the job?"

People were quick to point out that McCain's main qualification for the job was her famous father, the late Senator John McCain. One of her most insightful critics was MSNBC's Tiffany Cross, who pointed out that McCain's accusations of identity politics rang particularly false. She explained that feminist writer Barbara Smith was one of the three women who coined the phrase "identity politics" as a way of "articulating black women's struggle at the nexus of race, gender and class oppressions."

"But just like with hairstyles, Meghan, we've watched you take it, twist it, braid it, and loc it so it benefits the warped presentation of your own clumsy and ill-informed thoughts," Cross said. She also spoke on the fact that white voters were given "cute little nicknames like 'Joe the plumber,' or 'soccer moms,' or 'NASCAR dads.' All of that, Meghan, is identity politics."

"And when it came to every other voting block, we were simply identified by our race. As if these cute little colloquialisms couldn't be applicable to the rising majority of America," Cross continued. "Now let's address this preposterous notion that somehow being a woman of color suggests that you aren't qualified. I actually understand why you may feel this way, perhaps you assume that a person's ethnic identity may afford them some advantage. It's called projection, when one unconsciously ascribes traits that you don't like about yourself and attribute them to someone else. Like, I don't know, if my only talent was who I was related to, I may assume that everyone else had some similar, unfair advantage."

"Try being an ally instead of an adversary," Cross said before launching into extremely telling statistics. Although Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders only make up about 3% of the broadcast media workforce "they are the fastest-growing demographic in this country and represent nearly 6% of the population," Cross pointed out. "Everyone deserves to see themselves reflected in this space."

"As someone who grew up yearning to see my lived experience reflected back to me and then had to crawl, claw and fight at every turn to take up space in broadcast media, I simply ask: How dare you?" Cross concluded. "From now on, I hope you speak less and listen more and take a little time to enjoy this view."

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