Meghan McCain Confirms Exit From ‘The View’ After 4 Years

The View co-host Meghan McCain is saying goodbye to the popular ABC daytime talk show. McCain, who has been with The View since October 2017, announced her departure during Thursday’s episode of the morning talk show, telling her co-hosts and viewers, “This is going to be my last season here at The View“. The announcement came just hours after the Daily Mail first reported that the co-host would be leaving the show after four years. Her final appearance will be “the end of July,” with McCain quipping, “if you want to fight a little bit more, I’ve got four more weeks.”

Breaking the news to viewers at the top of the show, McCain said “this was not an easy decision.” She explained that “it took a lot of thought and counsel and prayer and talking with my family and close friends.” McCain said her decision to leave the talk show was in part due to the coronavirus pandemic, which she said, “changed the way, at least for me, the way I am looking at life, the way I am living my life, the way I want my life to look like.” When the pandemic forced The View to shutter in-studio filming, McCain returned to D.C., where she has settled for the past year-and-a-half with her family.

“I came to DC area which is where my husband and I always split time and where I always grew up splitting time. We have this incredible life here. We’re surrounded by My family, his family, my friends, my incredible support unit,” McCain, who welcomed her first child in September 2020, continued. “As any new mom knows, when I think about where I want [my daughter] Liberty to have her first step and her first words, I just have this really wonderful life here that ultimately I felt like I didn’t want to leave.”

McCain, the daughter of late Republican Arizona Sen. John McCain, first joined The View back in October 2017, replacing Jedediah Bila, who abruptly departed on Sept. 18 of that year. In a prepared statement at the time, McCain said she was “honored and proud to be part of such an iconic show with a diverse, smart, strong and interesting group of women. I’ve been a fan of the show for many years, so taking my seat at that table is definitely a career highlight!” She made her The View debut on Oct. 9, 2017. During her debut appearance, she said, “to be the conservative on this show is something that I take very seriously, and I’m excited to bring a different perspective to the show.” Speaking to Joy Behar, she said, “I don’t think we’re going to agree on anything, Joy, but I’m really excited.”

Prior to joining The View, McCain graduated from Columbia University with a degree in art history, and completed internships at Newsweek and Saturday Night Live before joining her father’s 2008 presidential campaign. She went on to work as a columnist for The Daily Beast and an MSNBC contributor. The conservative co-host also served as host on Fox News’ Outnumbered. She hosted the late-night news program TakePart Live on Pivot TV in 2014, and also took part in a 2013 documentary series on the same network. At this time, The View has not announced a replacement for McCain. McCain’s final appearance on the talk show will be some time at the end of July.