Meghan McCain was called out by The View guest Mary Trump as lacking “the courage” to appear in her segment during Monday’s episode of the ABC talk show. McCain, whose final day on The View is Friday, was present for the majority of the episode but was absent without explanation when Trump, an outspoken critic of her former president uncle, appeared on the panel to discuss the Capitol riots and racism.
None of McCain’s co-hosts — Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sara Haines and Sunny Hostin — addressed the outgoing panelist’s absence from Trump’s segment, but the Too Much and Never Enough author didn’t shy away from bringing it up. “It’s a shame that your colleague didn’t have the courage to come on and have this conversation with me but I appreciate that you are all willing to take up these very difficult subjects because racism in my view is at the heart of everything that’s wrong in 21st Century America,” Trump said.
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The Reckoning: Our Nation’s Trauma and Finding a Way to Heal author then called The View an “incredibly powerful platform” to discuss issues of race and gender as well as the legacy of her uncle. Goldberg was clearly surprised at Trump’s words, going silent for several beats and touching her ear piece before thanking her and going to commercial. McCain has yet to address her sudden exit from the episode on social media, despite her frequent comments on Twitter, nor have any of her co-stars.
The controversial conservative commentator announced on July 1 she would be leaving The View after four seasons. “This was not an easy decision,” she said after saying she would finish out the season, wrapping up Friday. “It took a lot of thought and counsel and prayer, and talking to my family and close friends.” McCain said her decision to step back was due in part to her move to Washington D.C., which came amid the COVID-19 pandemic as she became a mother to daughter Liberty with husband Ben Domenech.
“It is a privilege to work alongside such strong, brilliant, intelligent, incredible broadcasters like the four of you. You are the most talented women on all of television hands-down and it has been so incredible to be able to do this with you,” McCain told her co-hosts, adding that while it was “not easy to leave” she felt like “this is the right decision for me at this moment.”
