The View co-host Meghan McCain defended her controversial Twitter comments from Tuesday when she compared her New York neighborhood to a “war zone” due to the protests of George Floyd‘s death in Manhattan. McCain’s neighbor, Full Frontal writer Kristen Bartlett, quickly hit back, claiming their area was nothing of the sort. McCain said her original tweet was a response to what she saw on television, but Twitter users continued to criticize her.
Back on Tuesday, McCain told her Twitter followers her Manhattan neighborhood was “eviscerated and looks like a war zone,” going to call New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo disgraces. “This is not America,” she wrote. “Our leaders have abandoned us and continue to let great American cities burn to the ground and be destroyed. I never could have fathomed this.”
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The tweet was instantly mocked, especially by Bartlett. “Meghan, we live in the same building, and I just walked outside. It’s fine,” Bartlett wrote. Others accused McCain of overreacting, with one person asking for “pictures or it didn’t happen.” Another person asked her, “Your Dad is beaming on you today. He sacrificed for the lives of all Americans- Black and White. Why can’t you have his backbone?”
I needed a good laugh yesterday. Thanks! pic.twitter.com/xME54yVnh6
— Mike C! (@HiIamMikeC) June 3, 2020
McCain later published two tweets defending her original “war zone” tweet. She claimed a “gossip organization” was going to publish a store about where she and her family are living during the coronavirus pandemic. “I sent a tweet yesterday based on the news I saw happening in midtown we all have been watching all over different media platforms,” she added. In the second tweet, she wrote, ” I support the peaceful protests, their movement but am absolutely heartbroken about the destruction in the city I have loved since I moved to when I was 18. It is important to have your voice heard and I hope everyone stays safe and healthy.”
Manhattan looks completely normal except some windows have plywood over them. Maybe you’d know that if you were here, in the city you supposedly love 🙂
— Gus (@goldisacks) June 3, 2020
McCain’s Wednesday tweets did very little to stop Twitter users from criticizing her. In fact, many kept tweeting screenshots of Bartlett’s tweet. Barlett later responded to the attention her tweet received by posting a link to Black Lives Matter.
Pardon, but you made a definitive statement about what you saw outside your home. If you don’t want to be fact checked, don’t make public statements that impact other people and are false.
— Danielle Suchet (@DanielleSuchet) June 3, 2020
Floyd died on May 25 while in Minneapolis police custody. He was arrested after a grocery store employee called police after accusing Floyd of using a counterfeit $20 bill. Officer Derek Chauvin put his knee on Floyd’s neck and held it there for more than eight minutes, killing Floyd. Chauvin has been fired and was charged with second-degree murder. The three other officers who watched and did not stop Chauvin were charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and manslaughter.
The correct phrasing is “I am heartbroken about the violent deaths of black people at the hands of the police, so I support the protests and can certainly understand why windows might get broken, especially when militaristic policing is used against peaceful protesters.”
— Pete Nowalk (@petenowalk) June 3, 2020
I’ll tell you what
— TruthTogether.org (@TruthtogetherO) June 3, 2020
If you didn’t support someone kneeling during the national anthem in protest, then you need to reevaluate how much you really support the objectives of this movement.
When the symbols of freedom and equality for all have been degraded, Patriotism was kneeling
You were NOT there and tweeted as if you were looking out of your window. Please spare us the ‘look at what the tabloids are doing’. You continue to waver and it’s a disappointment when people are protesting because your party has made it a point to terrorize Black people. pic.twitter.com/FN7KZG88om
— Kirk Moore (@KirkWrites79) June 4, 2020
