Meghan Marguerite McCain (born October 23, 1984) is an American television personality, columnist, and author. She has worked for
ABC News
ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...
,
Fox News
The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
, and
MSNBC
MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and politi ...
. The daughter of politician
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...
and diplomat
Cindy McCain
Cindy Lou McCain (; born May 20, 1954) is an American diplomat, businesswoman, and humanitarian. McCain has served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture since November 5, 2021. She is the widow of U.S. Sena ...
, she has been a public figure for much of her life, first appearing at the
1996 Republican National Convention.
McCain received media attention in her own right in 2007 for her blog, ''McCain Blogette'', on which she documented life on the
John McCain 2008 presidential campaign
The 2008 presidential campaign of John McCain, the longtime senior U.S. Senator from Arizona, was launched with an informal announcement on February 28, 2007, during a live taping of the ''Late Show with David Letterman'', and formally launch ...
. In 2009, she became a contributing writer for ''
The Daily Beast
''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. It was founded in 2008.
It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief from 2018 to 2021. In a 20 ...
''. From 2016 to 2017, she co-hosted the daytime talk show ''
Outnumbered''. She joined the daytime talk show ''
The View'' shortly thereafter, co-hosting it until 2021. McCain became a columnist for the ''
Daily Mail'' newspaper following her departure from ''The View''.
Early life
McCain is the eldest of the four children of Senator
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...
and
Cindy McCain
Cindy Lou McCain (; born May 20, 1954) is an American diplomat, businesswoman, and humanitarian. McCain has served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture since November 5, 2021. She is the widow of U.S. Sena ...
.
She was born on October 23, 1984, in
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...
, and attended
Phoenix Country Day School
Phoenix Country Day School is a college-preparatory school located in Paradise Valley, Arizona, United States. It has an enrollment of 750 students in pre-kindergarten through grade 12 and follows a liberal-arts curriculum.
The student-faculty ...
and
Xavier College Preparatory
Xavier College Preparatory is a Catholic, all-female private high school in Phoenix, Arizona, United States. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix, drawing students from 120 local schools.
History
Xavier High School was founded ...
, an all-girl private
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
high school. She appeared at the
1996 Republican National Convention when she was 11 years of age.
On April 5, 2003, McCain was
presented to society at the Board of Visitors Debutante Ball at the
Camelback Inn
JW Marriott Scottsdale Camelback Inn Resort and Spa is a historic resort and spa owned by Marriott International, Inc, located on the southern slope of Mummy Mountain in Paradise Valley, Arizona, United States. The Camelback Inn was established i ...
in
Paradise Valley, Arizona
Paradise Valley is a town in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, and a suburb of Phoenix, the state's largest city. It is Arizona's wealthiest municipality. The town is known for its luxury golf courses, shopping, expensive real estate, and ...
.
She attended
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, where she earned her
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
in
art history
Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...
in 2007. McCain originally planned to become a
music journalist
Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...
and interned at ''
Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...
'' and ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...
''.
Career
2008 presidential election
McCain launched a blog titled ''McCain Blogette'' in 2007, documenting her father's presidential campaign as well as musing about
fashion
Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...
,
music
Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...
, and
pop culture. On June 12, 2008, McCain wrote on her blog that she had changed her party registration to
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
.
She said she did so "as a symbol of my commitment to my Dad and to represent the faith I have in his ability to be an effective leader for our country and to grow and strengthen the Republican party when he is elected president of the United States."
In her book ''Dirty Sexy Politics'' McCain talks about how she nearly overdosed on
Xanax
Alprazolam, sold under the brand name Xanax, among others, is a fast-acting, potent tranquilizer of medium duration in the triazolobenzodiazepine (TBZD) class, which are benzodiazepines (BZDs) fused with a triazole ring. It is most commonly ...
on the day of the election. In 2008, she published a book titled ''
My Dad, John McCain''. In an interview on ''
Larry King Live
''Larry King Live'' was an American television talk show hosted by Larry King on CNN from 1985 to 2010. It was the channel's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly.
Mainly aired from CNN's Los Angeles ...
'' in September 2008, McCain stated that she had been too busy to have a romantic relationship while on her father's campaign trail.
Although her blogging was devoted to gaining support for her father among the
Generation Y
Millennials, also known as Generation Y or Gen Y, are the Western demographic cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s to early 2000s ...
electorate, by October,
Steve Schmidt and other McCain campaign staffers had substantially limited her appearances on the campaign, deeming her "too controversial."
Subsequent career
McCain began writing for ''
The Daily Beast
''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. It was founded in 2008.
It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief from 2018 to 2021. In a 20 ...
'' in January 2009.
In March 2009, she wrote an article for ''The Daily Beast'' titled "My Beef With Ann Coulter." In this article, she questioned Republican support for conservative author and columnist
Ann Coulter
Ann Hart Coulter (; born December 8, 1961) is an American conservative media pundit, author, syndicated columnist, and lawyer. She became known as a media pundit in the late 1990s, appearing in print and on cable news as an outspoken critic of ...
. While Coulter did not respond, conservative radio talk show host
Laura Ingraham
Laura Anne Ingraham (born June 19, 1963) is an American conservative television host. Gale Biography In Context. She has been the host of '' The Ingraham Angle'' on Fox News Channel since October 2017, and is the editor-in-chief of LifeZette ...
challenged McCain's article by comparing her to a "
valley girl
A valley girl is a socioeconomic, linguistic, and youth subcultural stereotype and stock character originating during the 1980s: any materialistic upper-middle-class young woman, associated with unique vocal and California dialect features, ...
." Ingraham also mocked McCain: "Ok, I was really hoping that I was going to get that role in ''
The Real World
Real World or The Real World may also refer to:
* Real life, a phrase to distinguish between the real world and fictional, virtual or idealized worlds
Television
* ''The Real World'' (TV series), 1992–2017
* "The Real World" (''Stargate Atla ...
'', but then I realized that, well, they don't like
plus-sized models." McCain responded to Ingraham in a second article for ''The Daily Beast'' titled "Quit Talking About My Weight, Laura Ingraham": "Instead of intellectually debating our ideological differences about the future of the Republican Party, Ingraham resorted to making fun of my age and weight, in the fashion of the mean girls in high school." McCain also stated that she thought the change in discourse toward her body was "terrible" and further argued, "When
Tyra Banks
Tyra Lynne Banks (born December 4, 1973), also known as BanX, is an American television personality, model, producer, writer, and actress. Born in Inglewood, California, she began her career as a model at the age of 15, and was the first Africa ...
went on
her show in a bathing suit and said 'kiss my fat ass,' that's what I feel like. Kiss my fat ass!" Ingraham responded by calling McCain a "
useful idiot
In political jargon, a useful idiot is a term currently used to reference a person perceived as propagandizing for a cause—particularly a bad cause originating from a devious, ruthless source—without fully comprehending the cause's goals, a ...
." During a later interview on ''
Larry King Live
''Larry King Live'' was an American television talk show hosted by Larry King on CNN from 1985 to 2010. It was the channel's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly.
Mainly aired from CNN's Los Angeles ...
'', McCain said that as far as she is concerned, "with what's going on with Laura Ingraham, on my end, it's over." She also told King that Coulter never responded to her article, which, she stated, "is fine with me.... All I wanted to do is show women that you don't have to be Ann Coulter and Laura Ingraham to have a place in the Republican Party....
Supriya Jindal is a good role model, but a lot of people hadn't heard of her."
In April 2009, she signed a six-figure book deal with
Hyperion.
She described her aims in this way: "All I am trying to be is a young, cool Republican woman for other Republican women."
''
Politico
''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...
'' stated that while John McCain did not emerge from the 2008 election victorious, "his
Bud Light–drinking, talk-show–appearing, insouciantly
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
ing 24-year-old daughter" did."
Speaking at the 2009
Log Cabin Republican Convention, McCain said there was "a war brewing in the Republican Party" between the past and the future, and that "Most of the old school Republicans are scared shitless of that future."
She followed that by saying her enjoyment of Twitter was diminished by the presence of top Republican strategist
Karl Rove, saying, "I can't shake the fact that Karl Rove is following me—it can be creepy" and "We need to take Twitter back from the creepy people."
Statements such as these led news reports and commentators including
Rachel Maddow and
Kathleen Parker
Kathleen Parker is a columnist for ''The Washington Post''. Parker is a consulting faculty member at the Buckley School of Public Speaking, a popular guest on cable and network news programs and a regular guest on NBC's ''Meet the Press'', and p ...
to conclude that McCain had the same "
maverick
Maverick, Maveric or Maverik may refer to:
History
* Maverick (animal), an unbranded range animal, derived from U.S. cattleman Samuel Maverick
Aviation
* AEA Maverick, an Australian single-seat sportsplane design
* General Aviation Design Burea ...
gene" as her father. Following the April 2009 party switch by Senator
Arlen Specter
Arlen Specter (February 12, 1930 – October 14, 2012) was an American lawyer, author and politician who served as a United States Senator from Pennsylvania from 1981 to 2011. Specter was a Democrat from 1951 to 1965, then a Republican fr ...
from Republican to
Democratic, conservative commentator
Rush Limbaugh
Rush Hudson Limbaugh III ( ; January 12, 1951 – February 17, 2021) was an American conservative political commentator who was the host of '' The Rush Limbaugh Show'', which first aired in 1984 and was nationally syndicated on AM and FM r ...
suggested that many Republicans wished both McCain and her father would leave too.
Her tweet in response was, "RED TIL I'M DEAD BABY!!! I love the Republican party enough to give it constructive criticism, I love my party and sure as hell not leavin'!"
On a May 2009 episode of the ''
Colbert Report
''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late-night talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December 18, 2014, for 1,447 episodes. The show foc ...
'', she stated her support for
sex education
Sex education, also known as sexual education, sexuality education or sex ed, is the instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, including emotional relations and responsibilities, human sexual anatomy, sexual activity, sexual reproduc ...
and criticized
Bristol Palin
Bristol Sheeran Marie Palin (born October 18, 1990) is an American public speaker, reality television personality, and real estate agent. She is the oldest daughter and second of five children of Todd and Sarah Palin.
Palin competed in the fa ...
's
sexual abstinence
Sexual abstinence or sexual restraint is the practice of refraining from some or all aspects of sexual activity for medical, psychological, legal, social, financial, philosophical, moral, or religious reasons. Sexual abstinence is distinct from ...
campaign, saying it was "not realistic for this generation". McCain also stated her own desires for the Republican Party: "It can be a party for a 24-year-old pro-sex woman. It can be." After John McCain campaign fixture
Joe the Plumber
Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher (; born December 3, 1973), commonly known as "Joe the Plumber", is an American conservative activist and commentator. He gained national attention during the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign season when, during a vide ...
made some
anti-gay remarks (saying he would not have "queers ... anywhere near my children") in mid-2009, Meghan McCain took aim at him, saying "Joe the Plumber—you can quote me—is a dumbass. He should stick to plumbing." In September 2009 and February 2010, McCain had repeat stints as guest co-host of ''
The View''.
In September 2010, she appeared on the
NPR
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
news quiz show ''
Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me'' and won a prize for a listener.
Her campaign
memoir
A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobi ...
, ''Dirty Sexy Politics'', was published in September 2010. In it she expresses her opinions about
Sarah Palin and describes her relationships with the McCain campaign staff. She states that the Republican Party seemed "to have lost its way in the last ten years," that the conservative movement seemed "hell-bent on restricting our freedoms rather than expanding them," and that within the Republican Party, she felt a certain stress to take over the ideas of others, like
Mitt Romney, especially regarding same-sex marriage, which was a danger for the existence of the party. The ''New York Times'' described the book as a coming-of-age narrative about herself.
However, other reviews were more scathing. Leon H. Wolf wrote, "It is impossible to read ''Dirty, Sexy Politics'' and come away with the impression that you have read anything other than the completely unedited ramblings of an idiot." During the promotional tour for the book, McCain canceled an appearance at
Juniata College
Juniata College is a private liberal arts college in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1876 as a co-educational school, it was the first college started by members of the Church of the Brethren as a center for vocational learning for those wh ...
owing to what she called "unforeseen professional circumstances." However, according to her Twitter, she was actually in Las Vegas on a girls' weekend, as she got over a boyfriend ending their relationship via e-mail.
McCain has publicly discussed her struggles with grief from the death of her father,
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...
in 2018. In December 2019, McCain spoke with Dr. Lucy Kalanithi on stage at the annual End Well Symposium about challenging taboos and destigmatizing conversations about grief and death.
In September 2021, McCain became an opinion columnist for the tabloid newspaper the ''
Daily Mail''.
In April 2022 McCain published a memoir titled ''Bad Republican'' which sold 244 copies in its opening week.
Television career
A month-long road trip with comedian
Michael Ian Black
Michael Ian Black (born Michael Ian Schwartz; August 12, 1971) is an American comedian, actor, writer, and director. He has starred in several TV comedy series, including ''The State'', '' Viva Variety'', '' Stella'', '' Wet Hot American Summer: F ...
in the summer of 2011 led to a collaboration on the 2012 book ''America, You Sexy Bitch: A Love Letter to Freedom''.
In it, McCain lambasts Republican strategist
Karl Rove for what she believes was his role in the attacks against her younger sister in
her father's 2000 presidential campaign, castigates
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
for his actions in the
Lewinsky scandal
Monica Samille Lewinsky (born July 23, 1973) is an American activist and writer. President Bill Clinton admitted to having an affair with Lewinsky while she worked at the White House as an intern in 1995 and 1996. The affair, and its repercus ...
, but despite ideological differences, praises
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
for having "pushed through many doors and shattered many
glass ceiling
A glass ceiling is a metaphor usually applied to women, used to represent an invisible barrier that prevents a given demographic from rising beyond a certain level in a hierarchy.Federal Glass Ceiling Commission''Solid Investments: Making Full ...
s for women in politics. I love women who don't put up with shit, and Hillary clearly doesn't."
In November 2011, McCain became an analyst on
MSNBC
MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and politi ...
, and immediately got into a back-and-forth with 2012 Republican presidential candidate
Newt Gingrich.
In September 2013, her road-based talk show ''Raising McCain'' began on the start-up
Pivot
Pivot may refer to:
*Pivot, the point of rotation in a lever system
*More generally, the center point of any rotational system
*Pivot joint, a kind of joint between bones in the body
*Pivot turn, a dance move
Companies
*Incitec Pivot, an Austra ...
cable and satellite television channel. It was canceled in January 2014.
She was later added as a co-host to the show ''
TakePart Live'' on the same channel, appearing with
Jacob Soboroff
Jacob Hirsch Soboroff (born March 27, 1983) is an American journalist. He is known as a correspondent for NBC News and MSNBC. Prior to his debut on the network in September 2015, he was the host of ''YouTube Nation'' and a co-host of '' TakePart ...
beginning in May 2014.
The show was canceled in December 2014.
She signed on as a
Fox News
The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
contributor in July 2015 and was named a regular co-host of the afternoon talk program ''
Outnumbered'' on November 14, 2016.
Following her departure from both the program and the network in September 2017, McCain was named a permanent co-host of the
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
daytime talk show ''The View''. She made her debut on the October 9, 2017, episode. She had previously guest co-hosted the show in 2008 and 2010.
She announced her exit from the show after her fourth season in July 2021.
Political positions
McCain describes herself as "a woman who despises labels and boxes and stereotypes"
and politically identifies as a Republican who is "liberal on social issues."
She registered as an
independent voter when she was 18 years old
and voted for
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party (Unite ...
in the
2004 presidential election.
She has stated that she is
pro-life
Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respon ...
[ as well as in favor of ]sex education
Sex education, also known as sexual education, sexuality education or sex ed, is the instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, including emotional relations and responsibilities, human sexual anatomy, sexual activity, sexual reproduc ...
and birth control. She has expressed an opinion that conservatives demonstrate hypocrisy regarding abortion: "They go on and on about how evil and wrong abortion is, but don't like to talk about how easy it is to ''not'' get pregnant."
McCain agrees with her father's positions on global warming
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
, stem-cell research
In multicellular organisms, stem cells are undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells that can differentiate into various types of cells and proliferate indefinitely to produce more of the same stem cell. They are the earliest type of ...
, and supporting environmentalist
An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that se ...
legislation. At first she had doubts about the 2003 invasion of Iraq but subsequently supported her father's pro-intervention position regarding it. She objected to the Arizona SB1070
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Four Co ...
anti-illegal immigration law, which her father supported. In terms of economic policy, she once remarked on ''The Rachel Maddow Show
''The Rachel Maddow Show'' (also abbreviated ''TRMS'') is an American liberal news and opinion television program that airs on MSNBC, running in the 9:00 pm ET timeslot Monday evenings. It is hosted by Rachel Maddow, who gained a public p ...
'': "I didn't even take econ micsin college. I don't completely understand it so I'd hate to make a comment one way or the other. That's—truly of all the things—I keep reading and I just don't understand it."
McCain has campaigned for gay rights, and she has commented that the cause of the gay community
The LGBT community (also known as the LGBTQ+ community, GLBT community, gay community, or queer community) is a loosely defined grouping of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and other queer individuals united by a common culture and ...
for equality
Equality may refer to:
Society
* Political equality, in which all members of a society are of equal standing
** Consociationalism, in which an ethnically, religiously, or linguistically divided state functions by cooperation of each group's elit ...
is "one of the ones closest to my heart." In this way, she spoke at the Log Cabin Republicans
The Log Cabin Republicans (LCR) is an organization within the Republican Party which advocates for equal rights for LGBT+ Americans.
History
Log Cabin Republicans was founded in 1977 in California as a rallying point for Republicans opposed t ...
convention in April 2009,[ describing her cultural and political perspectives with the declaration: "I am concerned about the environment. I love to wear black. I think government is best when it stays out of people's lives and business as much as possible. I love punk rock. I believe in a strong national defense. I have a tattoo. I believe government should always be efficient and accountable. I have lots of gay friends. And, yes, I am a Republican."] She supports same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...
and gay adoption
Same-sex adoption is the adoption of children by same-sex couples. It may take the form of a joint adoption by the couple, or of the adoption by one partner of the other's biological child ( stepchild adoption).
Joint adoption by same-sex co ...
.[ In June 2009, McCain posed for the ]NOH8 Campaign
The NOH8 Campaign (NOH8 meaning "No Hate") is a charitable organization whose mission is to promote LGBT marriage, gender and human equality through education, advocacy, social media, and visual protest.
The campaign was created as photographic ...
, a celebrity photo project that protests California's Proposition 8 constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, which her mother Cindy also posed for. She was in favor of repealing "Don't ask, don't tell
"Don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) was the official United States policy on military service of non-heterosexual people, instituted during the Clinton administration. The policy was issued under Department of Defense Directive 1304.26 on Decemb ...
" and allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the U.S. military, a position her father adopted prior to his 2008 presidential run. She also co-hosted GLAAD's Concert for Love and Acceptance in Nashville in 2015. McCain described the Trump administration's ban on transgender service as "an unfair, un-American, and dangerous policy."
In the 2016 presidential election, she did not vote for Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump, instead writing in Evan McMullin
David Evan McMullin (born April 2, 1976) is an American politician and former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer. McMullin ran as an independent in the 2016 United States presidential election and in the 2022 United States Senate electio ...
. On September 1, 2018, she delivered a eulogy
A eulogy (from , ''eulogia'', Classical Greek, ''eu'' for "well" or "true", ''logia'' for "words" or "text", together for "praise") is a speech or writing in praise of a person or persons, especially one who recently died or retired, or as ...
at her father's funeral at Washington National Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the City and Diocese of Washington, commonly known as Washington National Cathedral, is an American cathedral of the Episcopal Church. The cathedral is located in Washington, D.C., the ca ...
. In an emotional eulogy to her father, McCain mourned her father's passing as the "passing of American greatness, the real thing." In what was widely seen as a sharp rebuke of Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
, McCain remarked: "The America of John McCain has no need to be made great again because America was always great."
McCain spoke out against the 2021 United States Capitol attack, saying on '' The View'': "I'm not against sending these people to Gitmo
Guantanamo Bay Naval Base ( es, Base Naval de la Bahía de Guantánamo), officially known as Naval Station Guantanamo Bay or NSGB, (also called GTMO, pronounced Gitmo as jargon by members of the U.S. military) is a United States military bas ...
. ... These are domestic terrorists who attacked our own republic. They should be treated the same way we treat Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...
." She also said, "The bedrock of our democracy and the bedrock of who we are as Americans is the peaceful transition of power
A peaceful transition or transfer of power is a concept important to democratic governments in which the leadership of a government peacefully hands over control of government to a newly-elected leadership. This may be after elections or during t ...
. And he is clearly a president who has turned into a mad king." She then called for the 25th Amendment
The Twenty-fifth Amendment (Amendment XXV) to the United States Constitution deals with presidential succession and disability.
It clarifies that the vice president becomes president if the president dies, resigns, or is removed from office, a ...
to be invoked, and Trump to be removed from office.
Personal life
In July 2017, McCain became engaged to conservative writer and commentator Ben Domenech
Ben Domenech (born January 1, 1982) is an American writer, blogger, editor, and television commentator. He is the co-founder and publisher of ''The Federalist'' and host of ''The Federalist Radio Hour'', and writes ''The Transom'', a daily subs ...
. They were married on November 21, 2017, at McCain's family ranch in Page Springs, Arizona
Cornville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Yavapai County, Arizona, Yavapai County, Arizona, United States. The population as of the 2010 United States Census was 3,280, down from 3,335 at the 2000 United States Census, 2000 census. The C ...
. In July 2019, McCain revealed that she had miscarried earlier that year. She gave birth to the couple's first child, a girl named Liberty, in 2020.
Awards and nominations
Writings
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See also
* Broadcast journalism
Broadcast journalism is the field of news and journals which are broadcast by electronic methods instead of the older methods, such as printed newspapers and posters. It works on radio (via air, cable, and Internet), television (via air, cable, ...
* New Yorkers in journalism
New York City has been called the media capital of the world. Many journalists work in Manhattan, reporting about international, American, business, entertainment, and New York metropolitan area-related matters.
New Yorkers in journalism
A
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References
External links
Column archives
at ''The Daily Beast
''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. It was founded in 2008.
It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief from 2018 to 2021. In a 20 ...
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{{DEFAULTSORT:McCain, Meghan
1984 births
Living people
21st-century American non-fiction writers
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Women who experienced pregnancy loss