Meghan McCain Officially Announces Departure From 'The View' After Four Years — 'This Was Not An Easy Decision'
Meghan McCain, known for her outspoken opinions and for often butting heads with her cohosts on The View, has officially announced her departure from the daytime show on the Thursday, July 1, airing.
At the top of the episode, the show's moderator, Whoopi Goldberg, said that she was handing the floor to the 36-year-old. "Thank you, Whoopi. I’m going to rip the band-aid off," McCain began. "This is going to be my last season here at The View. I will be here through the end of July to finish out the season with all of you, which I am grateful for."
She admitted that this was a hard decision for her, sharing that she turned to those close to her for guidance on what to do regarding the next chapter of her life."This was not an easy decision. It took a lot of thought and counsel and prayer and talking to my family and my close friends," McCain told her cohosts and viewers.
McCain, who once dubbed herself the show's "sacrificial Republican," went on to say that the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world for all of us and made her think about what she wants the rest of her life to look like.
The pandemic "changed the way at least for me — the way I am looking at life, the way I'm living my life, the way I want my life to look like," McCain continued before recalling how she fled the city while pregnant with daughter Liberty at the start of the pandemic.
McCain left the popular morning talk show over a year ago after finding out she was pregnant with her and husband Ben Domenech's first child, whom they welcomed last September. At the time, her OBGYN advised her to leave the city because it was unknown how the novel virus could impact pregnancy.
The talk show host moved to Washington D.C., where she gave birth to Liberty and wants to stay with her family.
"We’re surrounded by our family," McCain explained of D.C. "As any new mom knows, when I think of where Liberty wants to have her first steps and first words… I felt like I didn’t want to leave. On a professional note, this show is [has been one of the most] wonderful privileges of my entire life. This is definitely one of the top."
She added that it was a privilege and an honor to work alongside "such strong, brilliant, intelligent and incredible broadcasters," like Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sara Haines, Sunny Hostin and Ana Navarro. "You are the most talented women on all of television, hands down," she told her fellow hosts.
McCain also paid tribute to her father, late Senator John McCain, who "encouraged" her to do the show and work alongside iconic actress Goldberg.
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"It is not easy to leave, but I feel like this is the right decision to leave for me in this moment," McCain said, joking that she will be around for another month to bicker with her cohosts.
"I am just internally grateful to have had this opportunity here. So seriously thank you from the absolute bottom of my heart," McCain added before she quipped: "And I'll still be here for another month, so if you guys want to fight a little bit more, you got four more weeks." She went on to personally thank her cohosts as well as those who work behind the scenes.
“It has been quite wonderful to sit across from you,” Goldberg then told McCain. “It was an honor when [John McCain] said, ‘Please take my child.’” The anchor noted that the late Senator was "very smart" and knew his daughter needed to be on the show so the cohosts "could help toughen [Meghan] up."
Hostin then chimed in, joking that John once told her that the blonde beauty would be “a pain in the ass,” but added "Meghan and I talk every day."
Behar, who has famously feuded with the conservative cohost through the years, was one of the last to speak about McCain's exit. “You and I have had our disagreements,” she told McCain, but added that they do have a lot in common. "We’re on a show where we stick our necks out, we take a lot of blowback, we stick by our opinions,” she added. “You’re no snowflake, Missy.”
Wrapping up her statement, McCain said, “My final note to the world watching... the media needs to do a better job about covering the women on this show. If five men were doing what we were doing every day, we would have a Pulitzer Prize at this point.”
As OK! previously reported, the outspoken cohost had planned to make the announcement on the Thursday airing. The Republican cohost and new mother joined the show in 2017 after leaving Fox News and has been with The View for four seasons. It was reported that McCain had two years remaining on her contract.
McCain is no stranger to causing trouble on the popular morning show. Just recently, on the June 30 airing, the View cohost went off on a tirade regarding the iconic fashion publication Vogue and slammed its editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour, accusing the magazine of deep racism and calling on the "accountability culture" to demand a change.
Following McCain's bombshell announcement, ABC News released a statement, praising the mother-of-one on the work she's done on the show. "For the past four years, Meghan McCain has brought her fierce determination and vast political knowledge and experience to The View."
The network emphasized that they "respect and understand" her decision to depart the show to focus on her and her family. "We wish the best for Meghan as she plans her next chapter, and thank her for the passion and unique voice that she shared with us and our viewers each day," the statement concluded.
