Meghan McCain no Longer Identifies as Republican

Meghan McCain says she has difficulty calling herself a Republican as Donald Trump is in the White House. On the other hand, the “View” co-host and daughter of the late Sen. John McCain worries that doesn’t mean she’s abandoned conservatism.

In a Saturday interview on CNN’s “The Van Jones Show,” McCain, 34, said, “I am still a part of the Republican party and that I vote that a Republican ticket. But Republicanism is so tied up with being Trump.” At the exact same time, she said, “I am not a ‘Never Trumper.’ My brain didn’t melt. I can still see the woods for the trees and it did not expunge all my conservative principles out of me.”

Conservative fans of “The View” do not need to worry about confusing McCain with Joy Behar or Whoopi Goldberg, however. “I’m not a liberal and I think that it would be dishonest for me to go on TV and begin espousing beliefs I do not believe in.” But McCain isn’t certain where she fits into the GOP that is existing or when the party she climbed up will still exist by the time.

“We are so outnumbered,” she explained of mainstream Republicans. “I believe something like 80 percent of Republicans supports President Trump. Maybe they are doing this because they do not have another choice but I think that the populist Trump brand really has taken over, which is why there’s this sort of no-mans-land that I’m in because I didn’t come to be a Trump-er, either.”

The Republican party under Trump, she said, is “not exactly what I understand anymore. Its character appears to be gone. Growing up, my dad was, like, militant

about character. Now it seems like lying is OK. It’s a little nebulous. I really don’t think those are characteristics that are American. And it disturbs me a lot.”

The argument over the proposed boundary wall of President Trump has augmented her sense of otherness.

“Sometimes I feel just like when I hear, ‘Anyone who supports the wall is racist,’ it’s a trigger for me since I know people that aren’t racist who encourage the wall,” she explained. She encouraged her liberal buddies and co-workers to see the perspective of someone in Arizona “who’s seen the impact of illegal immigration who sees a liberal on TV talking about how amazing sanctuary cities are and thinks, that’s crazy.'”

The idea that all Republicans are racist is especially rankling into McCain, whose sister Bridget is from Bangladesh. “Of all the things I’ve ever been accused of, (being called a racist) is the most deeply hurtful,’ she informed Jones. “There was a really famous political moment in 2000 when my dad was operating (for the Republican presidential nomination) when Karl Rove had a whisper campaign done saying my dad had an illegitimate black child, who is my sister Bridget,” she recounted. “So at a very young age, I needed to reconcile (Republicanism and race).”

In the conclusion of the day, she said, “I am just here to ask questions, to signify where I come out, to reflect my party. I am here to represent my loved ones. If it isn’t liked by folks, they can replace me. ‘The View’ is a rotating chair — it’s like using a residency in Vegas.”