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Meghan McCain is no stranger to causing an uproar for making unpopular statements, and her latest comments about Dr. Anthony Fauci has once again made her a trending topic.
During Monday’s episode of The View, McCain had strong words for the nation’s top infectious disease expert, who serves as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and oversees the country’s COVID-19 response.
Read More: Joy Behar tells Meghan McCain ‘I did not miss you’ following maternity leave
The prominent Republican reacted to a recent CNN interview in which Fauci declined to provide a recommendation about whether vaccinated grandparents can visit their unvaccinated children and grandchildren.
“So I was very frustrated when I saw this clip,” said McCain. The TV host then emphasized that she has “respect” for the “tragedy” of the coronavirus pandemic and didn’t want to appear to “downplay” its devastating impact.
“That being said,” McCain added, “next week it will be a year since we left the studio and I have been very responsible in many different ways as so many Americans have been. And the fact that Dr. Fauci is going on CNN and he can’t tell me that if I get the vaccine, if I’ll be able to have dinner with my family.
“It’s terribly inconsistent messaging and it continues to be inconsistent messaging,” she said.
But it was McCain’s suggestion that Dr. Fauci doesn’t understand science and should be removed from his federal position that appeared to anger some viewers.
“The fact that I, Meghan McCain, co-host of The View, don’t know when or how I will be able to get a vaccine because the rollout for my age range and my health is so nebulous, I have no idea when and how I get it,” said McCain.
Read More: Fauci cautiously warns we could still be wearing masks in 2022
She added, “I want to be responsible and obviously wait my turn, but this rollout has been a disaster. And I understand President Trump can take much of the blame, but now we’re in the Biden administration and I, for one, would like something to look forward to and to hope for because if getting the vaccine means that just nothing changes and we have to wait another few years until everyone gets it, there’s already a lot of people not getting.”
“So I’m over Dr. Fauci,” McCain said. “I think we need to have more people giving more opinions and honestly quite frankly, I think the Biden administration should remove him and put someone in place that does understand science or can talk like these other countries about how we can be more like these other places that are doing this successfully.”
McCain’s statements did not go over well with the public, at least according to reactions on Twitter.
“This is tone-deaf,” tweeted journalist Ernest Owens. “I got a better idea. @ABC, fire McCain for her bratty sense of entitlement.”
“Does Meghan McCain understand that Fauci is an infectious disease expert/medical advisor and it’s not his job to figure out the logistics surrounding the distribution of vaccines? (this is a rhetorical question, she clearly does not understand),” said Business Insider politics reporter John Haltiwanger.
Media Matters Editor-at-Large Parker Molloy wrote, “I hereby propose that Meghan McCain be the last person in the U.S. allowed to get the vaccine. It’s only fair.”
After McCain’s comments, co-host Sunny Hostin stepped in to defend Dr. Fauci and said Trump should be blamed for the country’s pandemic woes, not Fauci.
“Former disgraced twice impeached, one-term President Trump downplayed the science [and] made sure people didn’t follow the science … other countries didn’t do that. He politicized masks, he had these super-spreader events. Because of that Americans died, ” said Hostin.
“I think we need to listen to the scientists. I don’t think we need to disparage Fauci. I don’t think we need to disparage the World Health Organization. I don’t think we need to disparage the CDC. If, as Americans, we just follow the science and listen to the leaders in these fields that have dedicated their lives to saving lives, we would’ve been in a much better place.”
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