Since joining The View as a permanent co-host in October of 2017, Meghan McCain has been a lighting rod for controversy, consistently sparring with her co-hosts as well as on occasion, guests who have joined the panel. At times, McCain has been the sole conservative voice on the panel, and in her words, she consistently is trying to demonstrate to both her fellow co-hosts as well as viewers, “the other voice in the country”. Her latest project with author and Emmy-winning CNN journalist Van Jones shows the conservative firebrand continuing her effort to reach across the aisle as both of them try to reach Americans on of both parties in the film documentary film The Reunited States.
Thank you so much for having me @VanJones68 – tune in Saturday at 7 on @CNN! pic.twitter.com/hhqjTaZajA
— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) February 9, 2018
Based on the book of the same name by Mark Gerzon, the documentary is a passionate and urgent call to action. It features (among others) Susan Bro (the mother of activist Heather Heyer, who was killed in Charlottesville) as well as David and Erin Leaverton, a Republican couple who travel across all fifty states (via RV) in an effort to find out what truly divides us. (Jones & McCain serve as Executive Producers on the film). Interspersed with shots of Navajo nation and the George Floyd protests, the documentarians speak first hand with people on both sides of the political aisle reach out to someone who, as Susan Bro puts it, “might not believe exactly like you believe”
Despite being the voice for the conservative perspective on The View, McCain continues to be an advocate for the LGBTQ community. During a recent appearance on Watch What Happens Live, host Andy Cohen directly asked McCain a question that continues to come up in LGBT circles regarding McCain. “I do sometimes get gay gays tweeting me, saying ‘she doesn’t support gay people because she’s a a Republican’; answer that for people”. While McCain indicated that her conservative values and how she wants the government run are a “cornerstone of who I am” she also believes that “all people should have equal rights in this country and be treated with respect”. After speaking about the appearance of RuPaul’s Drag Race stars appearing on The View with McCain and the subsequent backlash, McCain pointedly said that while she does not want to “hurt or offend anyone” she is also an “avatar for a lot of hate”. She ended by simply saying “I love everyone, I respect everyone, I want everyone to be treated equally under the law & the Constitution”.
McCain’s support of the LGBTQ community is well documented and was actually happening prior to many in the Democratic Party showing that same support for the community. Both she and her mother Cindy McCain were early supporters of gay marriage, and McCain moderated a panel of RuPaul’s Drag Race stars during the 50th Anniversary of Stonewall (with Nina West & Monet X Change also appearing on The View during McCain’s on-screen birthday celebration).
The Reunited States is available for streaming on 02/09/2021 on Amazon/iTunes/OnDemand
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