‘The View:’ Meghan McCain Makes This ‘100 Influential Women’ List
Meghan McCain of The View is known for her outspoken personality, especially when it comes to politics. The conservative co-host is never shy about sharing her political perspective.
Growing up in politics due to her late father John McCain serving for decades in the Senate, the television personality was recently recognized for her political prowess.
Meghan McCain has her own political credentials
McCain accompanied the late Senator when he hit the presidential campaign trail in 2008 and chronicled the experience in her blog. Moving on to write for publications such as The Daily Beast, McCain soon launched her own docuseries Raising McCain in September 2013 on Pivot TV. In retrospect, she wasn’t thrilled with the end product.
“Don’t watch it, it’s so embarrassing,” McCain told Kunhardt Film Foundation in 2017.
Gaining credibility as a political pundit, McCain became a contributor on Fox News in 2015. After a stint co-hosting the network’s talk show Outnumbered, she took her seat at the table on The View in 2017.
‘The View’ gets a ratings spike
McCain has become a force to be reckoned with on The View. While some are put off by her vocal persona and see her strong-willed stances as divisive, the conservative co-host has made a valuable impact on the show.
According to Ramin Setoodeh’s book Ladies Who Punch: The Explosive Inside Story of The View, McCain prompted a significant spike in viewership for the 2017-2018 season, with ratings at its highest in four years.
“Meghan is really the first true conservative that they’ve had since Elisabeth,” Setoodeh told Salon in April 2019. “They’ve had a number of Republicans, but they weren’t actually acting like Republicans on the show. They would go on the show, and they’d agree with the other co-hosts.”
Setoodeh credits McCain’s solid background in politics and unwavering opinions to be a draw for audiences. “Meghan really says what she believes on the show, and she sticks to her conservative ideals,” the author said. “I think now in this era that we’re in sometimes it touches a nerve, but it also makes for really good television.”
McCain acknowledges that her unwillingness to back down from her left-leaning co-hosts sets her apart from previous panelists. “I think the reason I worked and other Republicans didn’t is because I’m the first real Republican they hired,” McCain told Setoodah, “I was born in this environment.”
Meghan McCain makes Elle’s list
With the 2020 election around the corner, politics is a consistent hot topic on The View as well as every other news and talk show. With McCain’s background in the political arena, Elle recently recognized her for their “100 Influential Women on Why They’re Voting in the 2020 Election” list.
“Thank you for including me on this list @marieclairemag,” McCain wrote on Instagram to express her gratitude. “No matter what your perspective, persuasion, party affiliation, voting is one of the most important things an American can do! Do not forget to register and get out to the polls to exercise one of your most sacred constitutional rights!”
Other notable names include Meghan Markle, Madeleine Albright, Ava DuVernay, Oprah Winfrey, and Hillary Rodham Clinton.
