Co-host of ABC’s “The View” Meghan McCain says Republicans who continue to defend former President Donald Trump and oppose the latest impeachment are “ill-advised.”
McCain was asked by co-host Whoopi Goldberg if she believes it is time to leave the Republican Party.
While McCain said she would “die fighting” for the party, she proceeded to decry the people in the party who are “going on the horse of full MAGA.”
“It’s very difficult for me to come on this show right now because I’ve always prided myself of having my finger on the tenor what’s going on in conservative circles,” she said as she defended her conservative credentials.
“Even when I didn’t agree with Trump, you know, I’m not a squish, I’m not someone who went full brainwash Lincoln Project. That everything that’s conservative is a bastion of evil, and I must reject it and atone myself. I’m not that kind of Republican or conservative.”
She added, “But right now, I can’t defend this. I believe Donald Trump should be impeached. I believe we have to take a stand and have a fine line about what’s acceptable for a president or not. He incited riot. People got violent. People died. Full stop.”
Watch the video below:
.@MeghanMcCain: “I believe Pres. Trump should be impeached. I believe we have to take a stand and have a fine line about what is acceptable for a president to do or not. He incited a riot. People got violent. People died.”
— The View (@TheView) January 26, 2021
“I cannot defend people who are against impeachment.” pic.twitter.com/nviLJ1lTmB
The House voted to impeach Trump for what lawmakers say is his role in inciting the violent mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol. The Senate will hold a trial to determine whether or not to convict him of the charge.
McCain went on to argue that most Republican lawmakers in Congress who are against impeaching and convicting Trump are “people in their 70s and 80s who don’t really care about the future of the Republican Party.”
She also said Trump’s base was made of “predominately a lot of older white people” and argued the party has to move beyond Trump.
“Because, as much as Trump expanded the coalition, he didn’t do it enough to bring in full winds. We lost the Senate. We lost the Congress. We lost the presidency. And if people think that the MAGA train is the only train to go forward, I think they’re ill-advised,” she said.
Still, she said, “I also think that the people who think that whole coalition of Trump supporters are irredeemable and garbage and have no place in the party, I think they’re wrong as well.”
Finally, she reiterated that she tries to “take the tenor of conservatism and populism and bring it on this show.”
“But, I cannot defend people who are against impeachment,” she added.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) called the impeachment trial “stupid” and argued it would lead to further divisions in the country. He also vowed to “vote to end this trial.”
