ABC News’ “The View” returned from summer hiatus to kick off its 24th season on Tuesday and it didn’t take long for co-host Meghan McCain to declare she believes an anonymous report that President Trump mocked fallen American troops – but said The Atlantic should have warned her family the story was coming out.
Co-hosts McCain, Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar and Sunny Hostin kicked off the show by welcoming former co-host Sara Haines back as a regular before quickly jumping into politics.
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McCain noted that it’s been interesting to see Trump shift his focus to “law and order” during the six weeks that “The View” wasn’t on air. The panel then discussed a variety of recent political events and eventually landed on a widely disputed article published by The Atlantic that featured anonymous sources claiming Trump made offensive remarks about fallen American soldiers.
Trump and many from the White House staff have forcibly denied the allegations published in The Atlantic on Thursday, alleging, according to four unnamed sources, that the president referred to dead soldiers buried at the Aisne-Marne American cemetery near Paris as "suckers" and that the land was "filled with losers" during his visit to France in 2018.
Also in the bombshell report, Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic's editor in chief, wrote, "When [John] McCain died, in August 2018, Trump told his senior staff, according to three sources with direct knowledge of this event, 'We're not going to support that loser's funeral,' and he became furious, according to witnesses, when he saw flags lowered to half-staff. 'What the f--- are we doing that for? Guy was a f---ing loser,' the president told aides."
The Federalist publisher Ben Domenech, the husband of Meghan McCain and son-in-law of the late Arizona Sen. John McCain, has previously taken aim at Jeffrey Goldberg.
Trump, who publicly called the late senator a "loser" in 2015, denied the claims that were made regarding the planning of McCain's funeral, saying that despite their differences, the president thought he deserved the proper funeral.
Haines said that articles based on anonymous sources leave her skeptical, as many have stepped forward to dispute the story.
“I personally don’t think there’s enough evidence for me to base a comment on whether it happened or not,” Haines said. “I don’t have enough evidence to say whether for sure this was said, but regardless, it leaves people where they were to start.”
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Behar fired back, noting that “Deep Throat” was an anonymous source and condemned Republicans that have remained silent on the issue.
“It’s shameful, really. The Republican party that so loves the military, let’s hear from you,” Behar said, adding a call to the senator from South Carolina. “Lindsey [Graham] your best friend was John McCain, where are your words? Why don’t you open your mouth?”
Behar then said Haines should “have more faith in anonymous sources.”
McCain agreed she doesn’t always like anonymous sources but believes the story “has legs” because Trump has made similar remarks in the past.
“This is familiar, it’s familiar language that President Trump has used publicly and it’s a third rail that we have never seen any president traditionally touch before and he continues to touch it over and over again,” McCain said.
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McCain added that she would appreciate a “heads up” when The Atlantic or other publications report anything involving her late father.
“I would like a heads up beforehand, which everyone... traditionally journalists have done before, had had the respect knowing, I think, as public and painful as this continues to be, and trust me, it has been painful the past few days, having to re-live this. It happened right after the second anniversary of my dad’s death,” McCain said. “I think that my mother and my family deserve a heads up... and I do believe that President Trump probably said this.”
Earlier in the show, Behar said Trump “could pull this off” because Russian interference is “alive and kicking” as Election Day approaches, “the Postal Service is being interfered with” and Facebook continues “to leave all the lies” on its site.
“There is a lot of cheating, and, on top of that... the Electoral College I think is an issue and a problem,” Behar said. “I think it’s ridiculous that a few states, a handful of states, determines my future. It’s ridiculous so why bother voting in the rest of the country?”
Fox News’ Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.
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