Meghan McCain facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Meghan McCain
McCain in 2018
Born	Meghan Marguerite McCain (1984-10-23) October 23, 1984 (age 40) Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.
Education	Columbia University (BA)
Occupation	Television personality columnist author
Political party	Republican (2008–present) Independent (before 2008)
Spouse(s)	Ben Domenech ​ (m. 2017)​
Children	2
Parents	John McCain (father) Cindy McCain (mother)
Relatives	Joe McCain (uncle) John S. McCain Jr. (grandfather) Roberta McCain (grandmother) John S. McCain Sr. (great-grandfather)

Meghan Marguerite McCain (born October 23, 1984) is an American television personality, columnist, and author. She has worked for ABC News, Fox News, and MSNBC. She is the daughter of politician John McCain and diplomat Cindy McCain. McCain has been a public figure for much of her life, first appearing at the 1996 Republican National Convention.

McCain received media attention in her own right in 2007 for her blog, McCain Blogette. On the blog, she documented life during the John McCain 2008 presidential campaign. In 2009, she became a contributing writer for The Daily Beast. From 2016 to 2017, she co-hosted the daytime talk show Outnumbered. She joined the daytime talk show The View shortly thereafter, co-hosting it until 2021. McCain became a columnist for the Daily Mail website following her departure from The View.

Early life and education

McCain is the eldest of the four children of Senator John McCain and Cindy McCain. She was born on October 23, 1984, in Phoenix, Arizona, and attended Phoenix Country Day School and Xavier College Preparatory, an all-girl private Catholic high school. She appeared at the 1996 Republican National Convention when she was 11 years of age. On April 5, 2003, McCain was presented to society at the Board of Visitors Debutante Ball at the Camelback Inn in Paradise Valley, Arizona.

She attended Columbia University, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in art history in 2007. McCain originally planned to become a music journalist and interned at Newsweek and Saturday Night Live.

Career

2008 presidential election

McCain campaigning with her father in 2008

McCain launched a blog titled McCain Blogette in 2007, documenting her father's presidential campaign as well as musing about fashion, music, and pop culture. On June 12, 2008, McCain wrote on her blog that she had changed her party registration to Republican. She said she did so "as a symbol of my commitment to my Dad and to represent the faith I have in his ability to be an effective leader for our country and to grow and strengthen the Republican party when he is elected president of the United States."

Subsequent career

McCain began writing for The Daily Beast in January 2009.

In March 2009, McCain wrote an article for The Daily Beast entitled "My Beef With Ann Coulter." In this article, McCain questioned why Republicans support Coulter, calling her "offensive, radical, insulting, and confusing". While Coulter did not respond, conservative radio talk show host Laura Ingraham challenged McCain's article by comparing her to a "valley girl." Ingraham also mocked McCain: "Ok, I was really hoping that I was going to get that role in The Real World, but then I realized that, well, they don't like plus-sized models." McCain responded to Ingraham in another article for The Daily Beast entitled "Quit Talking About My Weight, Laura Ingraham": "Instead of intellectually debating our ideological differences about the future of the Republican Party, Ingraham resorted to making fun of my age and weight, in the fashion of the mean girls in high school".

In April 2009, McCain signed a six-figure book deal with Hyperion. She described her aims in this way: "All I am trying to be is a young, cool Republican woman for other Republican women." Speaking at the 2009 Log Cabin Republican Convention, McCain said there was "a war brewing in the Republican Party" between the past and the future, and that "most of the old school Republicans are scared shitless of that future."

McCain with her mother in 2012

Statements such as these led news reports and commentators including Rachel Maddow and Kathleen Parker to conclude that McCain had the same "maverick gene" as her father. After U.S. Senator Arlen Specter left the Republican Party for the Democratic Party in April 2009, conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh asserted that many Republicans wished both McCain and her father would leave the Republican Party as well. In response, McCain tweeted, "RED TIL I'M DEAD BABY!!! I love the Republican party enough to give it constructive criticism, I love my party and sure as hell not leavin'"!

McCain has publicly discussed her struggles with grief following the death of her father in 2018. In December 2019, McCain spoke at the annual End Well Symposium about challenging taboos and destigmatizing conversations about grief and death.

In September 2021, McCain became an opinion columnist for the tabloid newspaper the Daily Mail.

In April 2022, McCain published a memoir entitled Bad Republican. The memoir sold 244 copies in its opening week.

McCain launched her podcast, Meghan McCain Has Entered the Chat, in late 2023.

Television career

In September 2013, her road-based talk show Raising McCain began on the start-up Pivot cable and satellite television channel. It was canceled in January 2014. She was later added as a co-host to the show TakePart Live on the same channel, appearing with Jacob Soboroff beginning in May 2014. The show was canceled in December 2014.

She signed on as a Fox News contributor in July 2015 and was named a regular co-host of the afternoon talk program Outnumbered on November 14, 2016. Following her departure from both the program and the network in September 2017, McCain was named a permanent co-host of the ABC daytime talk show The View. She made her debut on the October 9, 2017, episode. She had previously guest co-hosted the show in 2008 and 2010. She announced her exit from the show after her fourth season in July 2021.

Political positions

McCain at the 2008 Republican National Convention

McCain speaking at the 'NO FEAR: Rally in Solidarity with the Jewish People' rally in Washington, DC. in 2021.

McCain describes herself as "a woman who despises labels and boxes and stereotypes" and politically identifies as a Republican who is "liberal on social issues."

McCain agrees with her father's positions on global warming, stem-cell research, and supporting environmentalist legislation. At first she had doubts about the 2003 invasion of Iraq but subsequently supported her father's pro-intervention position regarding it. She objected to the Arizona SB1070 anti-illegal immigration law, which her father supported.

McCain has campaigned for gay rights, and she has commented that the cause of the gay community for equality is "one of the ones closest to my heart."

McCain spoke out against the 2021 United States Capitol attack. She then called for the 25th Amendment to be invoked, and Trump to be removed from office.

Personal life

In July 2017, McCain became engaged to conservative writer and commentator Ben Domenech. They were married on November 21, 2017, at McCain's family ranch in Page Springs, Arizona. In July 2019, McCain revealed that she had miscarried earlier that year. She gave birth to the couple's first daughter, Liberty, in September 2020. She gave birth to a second daughter, Clover, in January 2023.

Awards and nominations

See also

• Broadcast journalism
• New Yorkers in journalism