Meghan McCain resigns as co-host of ABC's 'The View' after nearly four years

Meghan McCain, the lone conservative voice on ABC's daily talk show "The View," told viewers Thursday that she was leaving her co-host chair at the end of the season this month.

McCain said at the start of the New York-based program that she wants to stay in Washington, D.C., where she worked during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I have this really wonderful life here that I ultimately feel like I didn't want to leave," McCain said.

McCain, who is married to conservative writer Ben Domenech, gave birth to a daughter, Liberty, last fall. The couple have split their time between New York and Washington.

McCain, the oldest daughter of the late Republican Sen. John McCain and Cindy McCain, has frequently clashed with the other panelists on the program, especially long-timers Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar.

The most recent example occurred last week when McCain and Goldberg got into a testy exchange after McCain said the press had gone easy on President Biden compared with its treatment of former White House occupant Donald Trump.

The two co-hosts apologized to each other on air when they returned from a commercial break.

In May, McCain became angered over how the panel condemned Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who compared a mask-wearing mandate in the Capitol to the Holocaust. McCain said the program had not given similar attention to a spike in hate crimes against Jews that were related to pro-Palestinian protests.

McCain, 36, joined "The View" in October 2017. She had previously been a contributor on Fox News, where she also spent 10 months as a co-host on its daytime show "Outnumbered."

McCain made light of the tensions in her departure statement.

"I will still be here another month, so if you want to fight a little more, I'll be here four more weeks," she said.

McCain praised her co-hosts — Goldberg, Behar, Sara Haines and Sunny Hostin — calling them "the most talented women on television, hands down."

Behar complimented McCain for her willingness to mix it up with her liberal colleagues.

"You have done that brilliantly for four years. You spoke your mind, and you're no snowflake, missy," Behar said.

The job of conservative co-host on "The View" has been a revolving door in recent years. McCain replaced Abby Huntsman, another daughter of a Republican politician, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, after Huntsman had been on the program for one year. Jedediah Bila and Nicolle Wallace, now the host of her own daily MSNBC program, also lasted a single season.

"The View," created by ABC News journalist Barbara Walters in 1997, became more of a political forum over the last decade, with politicians from both political sides appearing in an effort to reach its predominantly female audience in the mornings.

But as the country has become more polarized, the program developed a reputation for frequent on-camera flare-ups between the co-hosts, turning the show into a favorite topic for tabloids and gossip websites.

The Daily Mail, which first reported that McCain would exit, said the host had two years left on her contract with ABC.

For the record:
5:12 p.m. July 1, 2021: An earlier version of this post said Meghan McCain is the eldest daughter of John McCain. That is Sidney McCain, from his first marriage.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.