Meghan McCain Finds Way to Make Ilhan Omar Controversy All About Meghan McCain

Meghan McCain Finds Way to Make Ilhan Omar Controversy All About Meghan McCain

With Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) once again finding herself in the middle of a firestorm of controversy over remarks that many perceive as being anti-Semitic, The View’s Meghan McCain derailed a conversation over the House Democrats’ proposal to pass a resolution denouncing anti-Semitism by making the issue completely about herself.

In recent days, Omar sparked outrage and backlash when — weeks after apologizing for using anti-Semitic tropes to describe pro-Israel lobbyists — she said that it’s important to talk about “the political influence in this country that says it is OK for people to push for allegiance to a foreign country.” Many saw this as Omar once again pushing anti-Semitic tropes, including a number of Democrats.

During Thursday’s show-opening discussion on Omar, McCain braced the audience ahead of time that she was going to be emotional because “this issue is a really intense one for me” and that everyone was going to have to “bear with me” on it. After saying anti-Semitism needs to be denounced from both the left and right, McCain criticized “identity politics and intersectionality” for preventing Democrats for fully punishing Omar, noting that Omar is one of only two Muslim women elected to Congress.

This resulted in co-host Sunny Hostin interjecting, wondering aloud why it should be considered anti-Semitic for Omar to question pro-Israel lobby groups and policies, prompting McCain to attempt to interrupt. Hostin told her she wanted to finish, pointing out that it appears that Republicans are using this as a “wedge issue” and that Omar never said that Israel doesn’t have a right to exist, causing McCain to go full McCain.

After yelling at Hostin that she’s not engaging in selective outrage over the issue, McCain insisted that she take “this very personally” because she could “go so far as to say I probably verge on being a Zionist as well.” It seemed apparent to some exactly what she was doing by stating that:

She then pointed to her family’s close relationship with former Senator Joe Lieberman and began to cry, driving home the point that this was all very personal to her, even if she doesn’t “technically have Jewish family that are blood-related” to her.

As tears welled in her eyes and her voice cracked, she explained how terrifying it was for a Muslim Congresswoman to speak critically of Israel.

“And it is very dangerous—very dangerous—and I think we all collectively as Americans on both sides—and what Ilhan Omar is saying is very scary to me and a lot of people and I don’t think you have to be Jewish to recognize that,” she concluded.

It didn’t take long for many, especially on the left, to shake their collective heads at John McCain’s daughter again making herself the absolute center of attention and somehow making a conversation about anti-Semitism a personal issue of hers.

Justin Baragona

Justin Baragona is the founder/publisher of Contemptor and a contributor to The Daily Beast. He was previously the Cable News Correspondent for Mediaite and prior to starting Contemptor, he worked on the editorial staff of PoliticusUSA. During that time, he had his work quoted by USA Today and BBC News, among others. Justin began his published career as a political writer for 411Mania. He resides in St. Louis, MO with his wife and pets.

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