Why Does Meghan McCain Always Seem Unhappy on ‘The View’?
For fans of The View, the beginning of every show became familiar long ago. After an announcer runs down the guests and agenda of the day, the co-hosts get their introductions. Then you see the ladies walk out, acknowledge the studio audience, and sit down.
View fans can likely predict the reactions of each co-host, too. With Whoopi Goldberg, you usually get a slight smile as the applause rains down, before “Welcome, welcome, welcome…” Meanwhile, Joy Behar and Sunny Hostin tend to go with bigger smiles.
As for Meghan McCain, you often find the show’s most conservative co-host sitting down with a scowl. After years of watching McCain clash with colleagues on the air, you can see why she might be unhappy. But McCain’s reasons go beyond the usual workplace stress.
McCain seems overwhelmed as the show’s most conservative co-host
Periodically, you find stories published about McCain being on the verge of quitting The View, and comments from the show’s producers (along with those of anonymous sources) shed light on backstage culture. For starters, no one denies McCain has anger and frustration about the job
In a Daily Beast report from July, we learned that McCain felt like “a caged animal,” “exhausted,” and “defeated” on the job. The report suggested she wouldn’t make it into the new season. (McCain did return in September.)
Still, we got a look behind the scenes that confirmed what we see on the air. As the show’s most conservative voice, McCain often feels isolated. Meanwhile, her social media activity exposes her to a lot of online “roasting” (i.e., ridicule).
Hilary Estey McLoughlin, senior executive producer at The View, pointed to McCain’s sources of stress. “What happens with Meghan … is she’s so passionate, and she feels very strongly that she’s carrying this mantle for the conservative perspective,” McLoughlin told The Daily Beast.
“What she wants to talk about is so important to her — I think that’s the part that’s the most draining for her.” McLoughlin also acknowledged that any conservative voice will have a rough go of it at times on The View. “It’s the hardest job on the show, for sure,” she said.
McCain’s short temper creates other problems on the air
While The View has seen its share of conservative co-hosts over the years, none has had anything close to the temper of McCain. You can see it during the discussions on any given day. One moment, Behar or Hostin is making a point; the next , McCain is raising her voice and talking over them. At times, it leads to screaming.
In moments like these, politics doesn’t really play a role in the heated the conversations. Ana Navarro, the Republican guest-host on the show, seems to have as many dust-ups with McCain as Behar. (In 2019, McCain walked off the set following an altercation with Navarro.)
However, McCain often mentions how she feels outnumbered on the show, politically. That extends to the studio audience as well. In November ’19, she told ET she feels hurt when the audience voices its disapproval of her. “Getting booed is very hard,” she said. “I don’t like when the audience does that.”
Yet McCain doesn’t do much to win over audience members. In another November ’19 encounter, she responded to the audience cheering for Hostin by saying, “That’s fine. Take your cheap applause line.”
In short, it’s not as simple as McCain being the only conservative on the show. Even Abby Huntsman, McCain’s so-called friend (who is also a conservative), felt the wrath of her colleague. That was a reason Huntsman left The View. After a while, you have start connecting the dots.
Also see: Why ‘The View’ Still Hasn’t Replaced Abby Huntsman
