“The View” co-hosts Meghan McCain and Whoopi Goldberg got into a heated exchange Thursday after McCain criticized President Biden for snapping at a reporter following a press conference on his European trip the day before.
“Just because Trump was so bad, it doesn’t absolve Biden’s bad behavior,” McCain said, referring to former President Trump’s often contentious interactions with the media. “What he just did was 100 percent Trump-y. I just think I would like a little intellectual consistency. If Trump had done that, we would be screaming at the top of our lungs … one way or another.”
Biden, at the end of a Geneva press conference after a high-stakes summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, grew angry and shouted at CNN’s Kaitlan Collins after she asked him what makes him confident Putin will change his widely condemned behavior.
“When did I say I was confident? What I said was … what will change their behavior is if the rest of the world reacts to them and it diminishes their standing in the world,” Biden said. “If you don’t understand that, you’re in the wrong business.”
Minutes later, before boarding a plane to the United States, Biden apologized to the media for the outburst.
McCain, who said that members of the Washington, D.C., press corps are likely getting “sick of” Biden not being more accessible or only calling on preselected journalists, called the episode “unbecoming and ridiculous.”
“It’s the press’s job to speak truth to power,” she said. “And just because Biden has gotten a pass so far … It is no one’s best interest to continue to treat him like it’s state TV.”
“Yeah, the thing I never saw Trump do was apologize to anybody,” Goldberg responded.
“With all due respect, I don’t care that he’s apologizing, he just embarrassed himself,” McCain said as the two proceeded to talk past each other.
“I don’t care that you don’t care,” Goldberg shot back.
“Well I don’t care that you don’t care, Whoopi, so we’re even,” McCain retorted.
Goldberg, sending the show to break, told McCain, “Well then, good Meghan, then you can be how you always are.”
“You can be how you always are!” McCain responded.
McCain, the lone conservative Republican on the show, often argues with Goldberg and the more liberal members of the panel. In March, Goldberg went viral on social media for her reaction to comments McCain made about the bombshell interview that Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, and Prince Harry sat for with Oprah Winfrey.