Mary Trump believes Meghan McCain lacks “the courage” to have a conversation with her on The View. (YouTube/The View)
Mary Trump, former president Donald Trump’s niece, believes Meghan McCain lacks “the courage” to face her in a debate on The View.
Trump appeared on The View to promote her new book, The Reckoning, in which she discusses the “national trauma” caused by the former president. The author denounced her uncle and his followers for perpetuating the “big lie” about the “election being stolen” and participating in the 6 January insurrection on the Capitol building.
She also discussed the racism encountered by Capitol police during the siege before taking questions from The View co-hosts Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sara Haines and Sunny Hostin.
But McCain – the show’s conservative voice – was notably absent during Trump’s segment. McCain had appeared earlier in the show to discuss comedian Kathy Griffin’s lung cancer diagnosis and subsequent surgery.
While on the show, Trump accused her uncle of mismanaging the US’ reaction to the pandemic and believed he was responsible for the “unnecessary deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans”.
She also highlighted how The View is an “incredibly powerful platform” to discuss important topics like racism and politics before addressing McCain’s absence during the segment.
“I think the more we talk openly about these things – it’s a shame that your colleague didn’t have the courage to come on and have this conversation with me – but I appreciate that you were all willing to take up these very difficult subjects because racism in my view is at the heart of everything that’s wrong in 21st century America,” Trump said.
Following the interview, McCain told Fox News that she skipped the segment with Trump because she thought the author was “too irrelevant for my time”.
The two women have previously clashed on The View.
USA Today reported McCain accused Trump of “cashing in” on her family’s name during the author’s visit to the show in July 2020. But Trump simply replied that the co-host was “entirely entitled to your opinion”.
McCain, who is the daughter of late senator John McCain, recently announced her departure from the ABC daytime talk show. Deadline reported that McCain said it was not an “easy decision” to step down from the show before adding that COVID-19 has “changed the way” she viewed her life.
According to Deadline, McCain’s last day is this Friday (6 August).
Earlier this year, Trump took up a new role in a political action committee that works to elect LGBT+ women to public offices – ensuring her uncle’s legacy remains a thing of the past. Trump, who is a lesbian, joined the board of directors for LPAC, an organisation dedicated to helping queer women have a greater voice in politics.