Meghan McCain is facing a lot of backlash for her commentary on Congresswoman Ilhan Omar and anti-Semitism on The View.
McCain and her co-hosts took on Omar’s comments about Israel on Thursday in a heated segment on The View. Many of Omar’s critics have called her statements anti-Semitic, including McCain. McCain was driven nearly to tears as she discussed the perceived discrimination.
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“Just because I don’t technically have Jewish family that are related to me doesn’t mean that I don’t take this seriously and it is very dangerous, very dangerous and I think we collectively as Americans on both sides – what Ilhan Omar is saying is very scary to me,” McCain said in a shaky voice.
This is one of the most anti-semitic things I’ve ever seen. Also, this reveals so much more about you than it does me… https://t.co/IdfGuWcJZu
— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) March 8, 2019
Her reaction was widely denounced as performative on Friday, as many pundits and social media users suggested that she was using the claims of anti-Semitism as a convenient way to attack Omar.
“Meghan’s late father literally sang ‘bomb bomb bomb Iran’ and insisted on referring to his Vietnamese captors as ‘gooks,’” wrote journalist Mehdi Hasan, in a post that Omar retweeted. “He also, lest we forget, gave the world Sarah Palin. So a little less faux outrage over a former refugee-turned-freshman-representative [please].”
“[Omar] retweeting trash like this is beneath a sitting member of Congress, as is her blatantly anti-Semitic rhetoric,” McCain responded on Twitter. “The Democratic Party looking the other way only helps Trump’s re-election efforts in 2020…”
McCain was also outraged by a cartoon of herself posted by Jewish artist Eli Valley. Valley depicted McCain surrounded by stereotypically Jewish items, wearing a cross and crying as she condemned Omar.
“The things she said about the holy land…” the cartoon McCain was saying. “That refugee girl wants to exterminate us Jews!”
“This is one of the most anti-Semitic things I’ve ever seen. Also, this reveals so much more about you than it does me,” McCain responded to the picture.
“Anti-Semitism shouldn’t be a left or right issue. I don’t think we should be politicizing it on either side,” @MeghanMcCain says. “If what Ilhan Omar has been saying … were said by a white Republican male, how would you be reacting to it right now?” https://t.co/LhdWObmPvN pic.twitter.com/w9dZ8GQPOA
— The View (@TheView) March 7, 2019
This whole media firestorm began when Omar suggested that money from pro-Israel lobbyists had a big impact on American politics and foreign policy. The response from Democrats and Republicans alike was explosive, and impossible to summarize simply. According to a report by The Guardian, Omar was right in some respects, as pro-Israel lobbies have injected millions of dollars into the Democratic party.
Omar has stood by her comments, and has slowly seen supporters cropping up, including Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris.
As for McCain, she continues to take flack for her monologue and her reactions online.
“There may be no better illustration of how Republicans use claims of anti-Semitism as a blunt instrument than Meghan McCain, who isn’t Jewish, accusing @elivalley, a Jewish cartoonist, of ‘anti-Semitism’ because he made fun of her,” tweeted activist Jordan Uhl.
On Saturday afternoon, McCain once again addressed the cartoon on her Twitter, writing how she will “never play the victim.”
“I stand by everything I’ve said. But after a career of passionately defending what I believe in, this is the most hate, harassment [and] vitriol I have ever received in response,” she wrote. :It shouldn’t be controversial to fear or denounce antisemitism.”
Photo credit: ABC Television Network
