Childhood & Early Life
Meghan Marguerite McCain was born on October 23, 1984, in Phoenix, Arizona, US. She is the daughter of US Senator John McCain and Cindy Hensley McCain.
John was the ‘Republican’ presidential candidate in 2008. Cindy is an American businesswoman.
McCain is the first of the four children of John and Cindy and has been in the eye of media throughout her life. She made her first public appearance at the 1996 ‘Republican National Convention.’
Meghan attended ‘Phoenix Country Day School’ in Phoenix, Arizona, and ‘Xavier College Preparatory High School.’ She then attended ‘Columbia University’ and earned her bachelor’s degree in art history.
Meghan wanted to be a music journalist before turning toward TV hosting.
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Early Career
With an ambition to become a music journalist, Meghan interned at ‘Newsweek’ and ‘Saturday Night Live.’ Fate, however, had other plans for her.
While working for her father’s presidential campaign, Meghan started her own blog titled ‘McCain Blogette.’ Her views about fashion, music, pop culture, and social issues brought her in the limelight. She also documented experiences of her campaign life and received high readership.
Her readers made her views popular, and she eventually became award-winning blogger. Her readership got her a job as a columnist for ‘The Daily Beast’ in 2009.
She also started working as an ‘MSNBC’ contributor. That was the beginning of her long professional career in journalism.
Career
In March 2009, an article written by Meghan invited a lot of criticism from radio talk-show host, Laura Ingraham. The article named ‘My Beef with Ann Coulter’ questioned the ‘Republican’ support for conservative author Ann Coulter.
Although there was no response from Ann Coulter, Laura Ingraham compared Meghan to a “valley girl.” Meghan responded to her comment through another article titled ‘Quit Talking About My Weight, Laura Ingraham.’ Meghan challenged Laura by questioning her ways of discussing irrelevant topics such as Meghan’s weight and clothes rather than the main issue of her article, which was related to ‘Republican’ views.
In an interview with Larry King, Meghan finally accepted that she had had enough of the Laura Ingraham controversy and had moved on. From 2009 to 2013, Meghan was exclusively busy with books, blogs, and politics.
She was always a staunch supporter of gay rights and sex education. She is also an environmentalist, much like her father.
She registered herself as an independent voter at the age of 18 and voted for John Kerry. However, during the 2008 presidential elections, she turned into a ‘Republican’ supporter to side with her father.
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She also signed a book deal with ‘Hyperion’ in 2009. She had already published a book titled ‘My Dad, John McCain’ in 2008.
She was involved in a number of political controversies in 2009. She has often used ‘Twitter’ as a means to share her views and opinions with the world. For instance, she stated that people like ‘Republican’ strategist Karl Rove following her on ‘Twitter’ was creepy. She stated, "I can't shake the fact that Karl Rove is following me – it can be creepy" and "We need to take Twitter back from the creepy people."
Her regular statements on social media proved that she had the same “maverick” genes as her father. She responded to commentator Rush Limbaugh through ‘Twitter’ when he suggested that she and her father, John, would leave the ‘Republican Party.’
She “tweeted,” “RED TIL I'M DEAD BABY!!!” in response to Rush, claiming that she would never leave the ‘Republican Party.’ She also made guest appearances as a co-host on ‘The View,’ in 2009 and 2010.
She won a prize for a listener on the quiz show ‘Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me’ in 2010. The same year, her next book, ‘Dirty Sexy Politics,’ was released. The book was her campaign memoir and received mixed reviews. While ‘The New York Times’ described it as a coming-of-age narration about herself, reviewer Leon H Wolf had terrible things to write about it. Leon wrote, “It is impossible to read Dirty, Sexy Politics and come away with the impression that you have read anything other than the completely unedited ramblings of an idiot.”
This was not the first time she was criticized for her political views. Meghan has been mocked at and made fun of by a lot of political figures for her views. However, Meghan never let others’ opinions get to her and continued doing what she felt was right.
In 2011, she started working as an analyst for ‘MSNBC’ and immediately got into a heated talk with the 2012 ‘Republican’ presidential candidate, Newt Gingich, inviting criticism from blogs. ‘Gawker’ referred to her as a “noted idiot.”
In 2012, she published another book, ‘America, You Sexy Bitch: A Love Letter to Freedom.’ She collaborated with comedian Michael Ian Black to write the book after spending a month on road trips with him. The book talked about controversies related to American politics and the attack on her younger sister during her father’s electoral campaigns. In her book, she praised Hillary Clinton for being able to shatter the glass ceiling and venturing into politics. McCain stated in her book, “I love women who don’t put up with shit, and Hillary clearly doesn’t.” She also commented on major controversies that involved a number of political figures.
In September 2013, she started her own talk show, ‘Raising McCain,’ on ‘Pivot.’ The show was canceled in the beginning of 2014.
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She started working as a co-host on the show ‘TakePart Live’ in May 2014. She appeared on the show with Jacob Soboroff. The show was canceled in December 2014. She was also signed by ‘Fox News’ as a contributor, in 2015.
She became a regular co-host of the show ‘Outnumbered’ on November 14, 2016. However, the show was canceled a year later.
In 2017, McCain finally seized the opportunity to become the 21st co-host of popular American talk show ‘The View.’ She officially became a co-host of the show on October 9, 2017. She got the opportunity to co-host the show after Jedediah Bila quit the show.
She is also a contributor and political analyst for ‘ABC News’ and often appears on shows such as ‘Good Morning America’ and ‘The Week.’
Facts About Meghan McCain
Meghan McCain is a published author, having written a children's book called "My Dad, John McCain."
In addition to being a political commentator, Meghan McCain is also a vocal advocate for mental health awareness and has spoken openly about her own struggles with anxiety.
Meghan McCain is a big fan of tattoos and has several inked on her body, including a quote from a Robert Frost poem and a tribute to her late father, Senator John McCain.
Meghan McCain is a self-proclaimed reality TV junkie and has admitted to being a fan of shows like "The Real Housewives" and "The Bachelor."
Meghan McCain is an animal lover and has a pet French bulldog named Hector, who often makes appearances on her social media accounts.