Meghan McCain Was Reportedly 'Begged' to Stay Ahead of 'The View' Exit

Meghan McCain announced Thursday that she will exit The View this summer, though that wasn't the [...]

By Allison Schonter

Meghan McCain announced Thursday that she will exit The View this summer, though that wasn't the decision ABC had been hoping for. After reports surfaced Thursday morning that McCain was set to exit the morning talk show, and just before McCain confirmed the news herself, sources claimed that the conservative co-host of 4-years was "begged" to stay.

According to a Disney source who spoke to Page Six just after the Daily Mail first published a report claiming McCain was set to announce her departure, "ABC begged for her to stay." McCain, however, "said 'No — I'm done! I'm not staying anymore.'" The network was so desperate for McCain to stay at the discussion table that they "even offered a contributor role on ABC News," which she ultimately turned down. According to the source, McCain, who first joined The View in 2017 as Jedediah Bila's replacement and still had two years left in her contract, has "just had enough" and "doesn't need it anymore — she really doesn't need it."

After years of speculation that she could be leaving and many heated discussions with her co-hosts, The View opened Thursday morning with McCain telling viewers, "I am just going to rip the Band-Aid off. I am here to tell all of you, my wonderful co-hosts and viewers at home, that this is going to be my last season here at The View." McCain said the decision to leave the discussion table "took a lot of thought and counsel and prayer, and talking to my family and my close friends." She said she realized this was the best decision from her in part due to the coronavirus pandemic, which changed the way she is "looking at life, the way I'm living my life, the way I want my life to look like." McCain went on to explain that a major factor in her decision was her life in D.C. with husband Ben Domenech and their 1-year-old daughter Liberty.

"I came to the D.C. area, which is where my husband and I have always split time, and it's where I grew up splitting time. We have this incredible life here, we're surrounded by my family, his family, by friends, by this incredible support unit," she said. "I think as any new mom knows, when I think about where I want Liberty to have, you know her first steps and her first words — I just have this really wonderful life here that ultimately, I felt I didn't want to leave."

McCain called her four-year tenure on The View "one of the hands down greatest, most exhilarating, wonderful privileges of my entire life" and said it has been "a privilege to work alongside such strong, brilliant, intelligent, incredible" co-hosts. She said co-hosts Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, and Sara Haines "are the most talented women on all of television," adding that "it has been so incredible to be able to do this with you." McCain, who said it "is not easy to leave," will remain at the discussion table until the end of July.

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