In a string of recent interviews to promote her memoir Bad Republican, former The View co-host Meghan McCain revealed the details of a phone call she received from former Republican President Donald Trump after she criticized him for insulting her father, late Arizona Republican Senator John McCain.
Trump placed the call after Meghan McCain called him "abhorrent" following a report Trump had been mocking her father's physical impairments, sustained during his five-year stint as a prisoner of war in the 1970s.
Meghan discussed the call during a recent appearance on Watch What Happens Live.
See the moment below at the 1:55 mark.
It all began when a report on Trump's mockery of John McCain appeared in an article in Axios in September of 2017, when Senator McCain's health was rapidly declining amid his fight with brain cancer, to which he would succumb the following year.
McCain took to Twitter to issue a fiery condemnation of the then-President, calling him "aborrent."
What more must my family be put through right now? This is abhorrent.https://twitter.com/jaketapper/status/913057010379304962\u00a0\u2026— Meghan McCain (@Meghan McCain) 1506530282
Shortly thereafter, Meghan McCain received a voicemail from President Trump—and an unwelcome one at that.
As she told DailyMailTV:
"I lost my mind. And I called my dad and I said, 'I don't want to call him back... I don't want to talk to him.'"
But Senator McCain insisted she must return the call out of respect for the office of the Presidency.
She complied, and what ensued was nothing short of bizarre.
"[Trump] denied making fun of my dad's war injuries and he didn't apologize, but he said, 'I didn't do this, this is fake news.'"
McCain says Trump then put former First Lady Melania Trump on the phone, who said "we love you" and "we love your dad."
McCain told DailyMailTV she was unimpressed.
"I was like, 'You don't, but okay.'"
Trump repeatedly attacked Senator McCain before his death, most infamously during a 2015 campaign appearance when he mocked McCain's five-year stint as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam in the 1970s, calling him a "loser" for being captured.
On Twitter, McCain's story definitely made an impression on those who oppose Trump.
Can\u2019t stand @MeghanMcCain\u2019s politics, but Trump\u2019s disrespect for her father and her family is truly despicable— Sherri Kidd (@Sherri Kidd) 1634678167
Not a Meghan fan but this is abhorrent. Trump is a scourge on America.— Pamela at home, vaccinated. Please wear a mask. (@Pamela at home, vaccinated. Please wear a mask.) 1634679945
https://www.yahoo.com/news/meghan-mccain-recalls-very-bizarre-092827123.html\u00a0\u2026\n\nTrump is a small, fickle, empty human being.\nMcCain always was, always will be, the greater man.— Furrrrrrrr-ocious (@Furrrrrrrr-ocious) 1634747544
Yet another anecdote, from one of many I might add, proving Trump is a narcissist, just like all the psychologists claimed he was.https://www.huffpost.com/entry/meghan-mccain-donald-trump-phone-call_n_616fce8ee4b0931432044503\u00a0\u2026— Kiwi_CGFX (@Kiwi_CGFX) 1634729581
But not everyone was sympathetic, given how frequently she defended former President Trump during her time on The View.
A reminder that had Trump not attacked John McCain, Meghan McCain would be a full-blown Trumper.— Erie Siobhan \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@Erie Siobhan \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1634662085
@MeghanMcCain can't understand why the mule she tied her cart to keeps biting her.\nTrump refused to apologize to Meghan McCain for mocking her dad\u2019s war injuries in \u2018bizarre\u2019 phone call: new bookhttps://www.rawstory.com/meghan-mccain-trump-2655324761/\u00a0\u2026— Veterans Against Treason\ud83c\udf0a \ud83c\udf0a \ud83c\udf0a (@Veterans Against Treason\ud83c\udf0a \ud83c\udf0a \ud83c\udf0a) 1634683892
And yet she stuck by Donald the entire time she was on the show and defended him. That says a lot about her more so than Donald. He should be glad he wasn\u2019t dealing with me and my family.— Jerseygirl #FBR (@Jerseygirl #FBR) 1634819163
The issue is she would love trump if he hadn\u2019t picked on her dad. Meghan McCain has recalled a "very bizarre" phone call with Donald Trump after he reportedly mocked her father. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/meghan-mccain-donald-trump-phone-call_n_616fce8ee4b0931432044503?utm_campaign=share_twitter&ncid=engmodushpmg00000004\u00a0\u2026 # via @HuffPostPol— Tack Left (@Tack Left) 1634775288
Whether Twitter supports her or not, McCain got the last laugh in her interview with Watch What Happens Live's Andy Cohen.
She quipped, "He lost Arizona [in 2020], so all is well now."
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social