Meghan McCain, daughter of the late Senator John McCain, has called out President Joe Biden for supporting the federal funding of abortion. McCain, who is one of the co-hosts on The View, said that by taking this stance, Biden is doing “grave spiritual harm” to the U.S.
“He’s going to have to ultimately talk to his Creator when the time comes as we all do and reconcile his politics with his personal faith,” said McCain, “and I believe he’s doing grave spiritual harm to himself and to this country.”
Meghan McCain: I Don’t Get It
Meghan McCain is one of five co-hosts on The View, a talk show where women with a variety of perspectives discuss hot topics in the news. On June 21, the co-hosts had a conversation about a recent decision by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to move forward with drafting guidance that could prohibit Biden from receiving Communion due to his political support of abortion.
Actress and comedian Whoopi Goldberg asked McCain, the only pro-life co-host on The View, if she was suprised by the bishops’ decision. McCain responded that such a move was not unprecedented, giving as an example past calls for New York governor Andrew Cuomo to be denied Communion (in that case because Cuomo was living with his girlfriend).
McCain went on to say that she recognizes all people are on their own spiritual journeys, and she does not impose her views on others. However, she noted that these are “life and death” issues for Catholics and devout Christians and said, “If you are a devout Catholic, as President Biden claims to be, abortion is a cardinal sin that can do deep spiritual harm to you.”
McCain observed that at one point in his career, Biden supported the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits the federal funding of abortion except in the cases of rape, incest, and when the mother’s life is threatened. The president changed his stance after he announced his candidacy for president in 2019, and McCain pointed out that Biden’s budget proposal also shows this change in stance.
Prior to Biden reversing his position, in April 2019 McCain posted her support for the then-presidential candidate on Instagram. Biden was set to appear on The View for his first interview after announcing his candidacy, and McCain wrote, “It’s no secret of my love and friendship with Joe, and I can’t wait to talk to him tomorrow.”
McCain told Goldberg she knows her co-hosts disagree, but “as far as I’m concerned, abortion is murder, and that means the government funding of killing of the unborn.” She added that she does not understand Biden’s position that he personally opposes abortion, even though his policies support it. McCain compared this viewpoint to someone saying, “I’m personally opposed to murder, but if you want to murder a little bit, it’s fine, because it’s not my problem. It doesn’t register with me; I don’t get it.”
McCain’s fellow co-hosts expressed confusion over the U.S. bishops’ outspokenness on the issue of abortion when there are other politicians living inconsistently with other Catholic doctrines. Co-hosts Sunny Hostin and Joy Behrar mentioned support for the death penalty as one example of the incosistency they perceive. Hostin also brought up the fact the Catholic church defines divorce and adultery as sins, but prominent Catholic leaders have not seemed concerned about Newt Gingrich, a Catholic who divorced his second wife to marry a woman with whom he had an affair. Gingrich actually converted to Catholicism after marrying his third wife, Callista, but the fact remains that Callista Gingrich later became the U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican.
Meghan McCain later tweeted, “I do not care how much pressure or how uncool it makes me in media circles, I am ardently pro-life. I am proud to be and will always fight for the rights of the unborn. I wish the media would employ more than one woman on network tv instead of treating us like we’re fringe freaks.” Pro-life organization Live Action tweeted its support for McCain, saying, “Thank you, Meghan McCain, for courageously standing for life.”
