Meghan McCain actually says something nice about “The View” cohost: 'She's a very strong woman'

McCain also declared herself "the avatar for Republicans" during the show's COVID era, and said she received purged anger from colleagues at the program.

Marking an even bigger occasion than that time she got Whoopi Goldberg to say "okay" in the most legendary fashion in history, Meghan McCain has officially said something nice about one of her former cohosts at The View.

The conservative pundit and daughter of the late Senator John McCain revealed on Wednesday's episode of the 9 to 5ish podcast her positive thoughts on Joy Behar of all people, years after revealing that it was a particular on-camera fight with the 81-year-old comedian that ultimately led to McCain's permanent exit from the program in 2021 following a return from maternity leave.

McCain said on the podcast that, leading up to her heated fight with Behar during The View's COVID era, "all hosts were isolated and weren't around each other," which set the stage for her cohosts to "hate" her and "project" their desire to "purge their anger about what was happening in the country" onto her. "I was the avatar for Republicans," McCain mused. "That happened internally at the show — it wasn't just outwards."

Related: Meghan McCain says Jennifer Lopez was 'deeply unpleasant' on The View: 'She was not nice'

She went on to recount a story she's told before, that the post-maternity-leave clash with Behar led to McCain throwing up and crying off-camera before making the decision then and there to exit The View, but she didn't take the opportunity to criticize Behar as hard as she has in the past.

"I'm not trying to beat the s--- out of Joy Behar, because I actually have a lot of respect for Joy," McCain admitted. "I think she's a very strong woman who, in the same way that I represent a lot for Republicans to some people, she represents a lot for liberal women, and we both have this differing opinion."

McCain also estimated that her health contributed to the tense atmosphere on that fateful day, as she was already struggling with post-natal eclampsia, had a hard time walking, and lacked the energy she said is required to "fight like that on TV" in the first place.

"I don't think people realize that. It takes a lot emotional, but physically I would always have to take a nap after the show because Iw as blown out," she said. "I can't feel this way in my body and fight like this on TV."

A representative for The View didn't immediately respond to Entertainment Weekly's request for comment.

Since leaving The View in 2021, McCain has repeatedly criticized the program in interviews, on social media, and in segments of her Citizen McCain podcast — even going as far as to call the current hosts "crazy old people just yelling about me all of the time" on the air.

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Related: Sunny Hostin didn't know ex-View cohost Meghan McCain unfollowed her: 'Maybe she broke up with me'

McCain even publicly pondered taking legal action against the show after fellow Republican Ana Navarro's on-air suggestion during a December Hot Topics chat regarding Hunter Biden's legal issues that unnamed View cohosts have attempted to "influence-peddle" on their last names in the past.

McCain interpreted Navarro's words as targeted at her, but she isn't the only former cohost who joined the table in the shadow of a famous political father, as Abby Huntsman — daughter of Jon Huntsman Jr., the former governor of Utah — also served as a cohost from 2018 to 2020.

Listen to McCain discuss Behar in the podcast episode above.

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.