Meghan McCain Begins Final Week on ‘The View’ Attacking Kathy Griffin After Cancer Diagnosis

Meghan McCain began her final week on The View by attacking Kathy Griffin just hours after the comedian revealed that she was diagnosed with lung cancer. Griffin also revealed she struggled with a pill addiction and attempted suicide in an interview with ABC, the same network that airs The View. McCain’s response to Griffin’s diagnosis disgusted many on social media, especially since McCain’s father, Sen. John McCain, died from cancer in 2018.

“Well first, I just wanna say it’s terrible and very scary to be diagnosed with cancer, and it’s very tragic to hear of her having an opioid addiction,” McCain said on The View Monday. “Both things have hit my family very hard, and it’s just horrific to go through as someone who’s a bystander, let alone actually going through it yourself. So, you know, my heart goes out to her in that way, and I hope for a very speedy recovery.”

However, McCain’s sympathy ended there. She then brought up decades-old jokes Griffin made about American Idol contestant Clay Aiken, whom McCain considers a close friend. “She made very, very, very cruel and homophobic jokes about him before he was out of the closet,” McCain said. “We have to go back to like 2002, 2003, when that was still acceptable. He is a very strong person and has a very strong constitution, and he has said himself that he is one of the last people you can make homophobic jokes about and it’s still socially acceptable.”

McCain said Aiken was “lucky he didn’t end up becoming an opioid addict” because of the bullying he faced before he came out publicly. “You can just go on YouTube and see a lot of the jokes that she made about him — and other comedians, but she really led it — so I would love to hear an apology, if she’s doing this kind of soul searching, for what could’ve happened with my good friend,” McCain said. “So I don’t like her, I’m never gonna like her for all the jokes she made about Clay.”

McCain has also never forgiven Griffin for the infamous 2017 photos the comedian posed for, in which she held up a bloodied Donald Trump mask. The photos reminded McCain “of what ISIS does to our soldiers.” In her interview with ABC News‘ Nightline, Griffin said she developed a pill addiction in the aftermath of the 2017 controversy and attempted suicide before getting sober.

McCain’s comments about Griffin horrified many, with some pointing out that Griffin has been a strong supporter of LGTBQ causes. Others were surprised she would show little sympathy for someone with cancer. McCain has not responded to the backlash from her Griffin comments.

On Monday’s episode, McCain left the show early before her View co-hosts interviewed Mary Trump, the outspoken niece of former President Trump. Trump called out McCain for not having the “courage” to join the conversation on “very difficult subjects.” McCain later defended her decision to avoid Trump, tweeting, “There is no ‘good’ Trump family member to me. Continue to wish they would all just leave me and my entire family the f— alone.”