“The View” co-anchor Meghan McCain called out GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) on Thursday after he said on the program that the president should pardon his longtime confidant Roger Stone, saying, “Oh come on, congressman.”
McCain, the daughter of the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), made the dismissive remark amid a discussion ahead of the scheduled prison sentencing of Stone, who was convicted of witness tampering and lying to Congress about his actions during the 2016 presidential race.
Later Thursday a judge sentenced Stone to 40 months in prison.
Asked by co-host Sonny Hostin if he thought Stone should be pardoned, Gaetz said, “Yes, I do.” McCain appeared baffled by remark and repeatedly said, “Come on.”
“He’s the swampiest swamp creature,” McCain said.
The Florida congressman then defended his stance, comparing Trump’s pardons to those of former Presidents Obama and Clinton. He also argued that when the Founders “designed our Constitution, there were vestiges of the British monarchy that Americans still had some reverence [for], and one was the notion that the executive could extend unlimited grace.”
As he made his remarks, “The View” flashed a picture that Gaetz, one of the most outspoken supporters of Trump in Congress, took with Stone. Co-host Joy Behar at one point chimed in, joking that Gaetz’s account made it seem like Trump is a “king.”
He later argued that based on the original intent of the pardon power, it “could not be limited.”
Stone’s case gained added attention last week after four prosecutors resigned from his case after Justice Department leaders intervened and requested a lighter sentence than the one originally recommended.
The request came after Trump railed against the initial sentencing recommendation of seven to nine years, though the department has insisted that its decision to intervene in the case occurred without consultation with the White House.
Speculation has increased about whether Trump will use his pardon power to grant clemency to Stone. The president tweeted a video earlier Thursday of Fox News host Tucker Carlson urging him to end the “travesty” of Stone’s case. Carlson noted that “Democrats will become unhinged if Trump pardons Stone, but they’re unhinged anyway.”
Trump followed that tweet with another decrying what he views as a lack of “fairness” in Stone’s trial. The president in the past week has gone after prosecutors, the forewoman of the trial jury and the Obama-appointed judge who doled out the sentence.