Meghan McCain: The left will have to 'reconcile' whether identity politics trumps job qualifications

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"The View" co-host Meghan McCain said Wednesday the "progressive left" will have to "reconcile "the question over whether race, gender, and identity politics take precedent over job qualifications.

"[The View] is 25 years old next year. We’ve only had one Asian American host co-host this show. So does that mean that one of us should be leaving at some point because there’s not enough representation?" McCain said. "We're talking about is identity politics more important than the qualifications of a job? And I think that’s a question going forward that the progressive left is going to have to reconcile."

McCain praised America as a "meritocracy," but she expressed concern that recent politically charged stories surrounding minority farmers and a Harvard discrimination lawsuit involving Asian-American applicants were examples of a "very slippery slope" for American culture.

"We’re going to a place where even if people need money, even if people are qualified to get into Ivy League, race and gender is more important than your skill qualifications, the content of your character," McCain said. "It is not what Martin Luther King preached."

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McCain was responding to Sen. Tammy Duckworth’s, D-Ill., recent statement claiming the Biden administration has not been "aggressive" enough in choosing diverse White House cabinet nominees. The senator said she would vote no on any nominee that didn’t meet her diversity standard.

"I’ve been talking to them for months. And they’re still not aggressive. So I am not going to be voting for any nominee from the White House, other than diverse nominees. I’ll be a 'no' on everyone until they figure this out," she told reporters Tuesday.

Duckworth quickly backtracked, however, after saying she received "assurances" from the Biden White House it would "do much more to elevate [Asian American or Pacific Islander] voices and perspectives at the highest levels of government, including appointing an AAPI senior White House official to represent the community, secure the confirmation of AAPI appointments and advance policy proposals that are relevant and important to the community."

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McCain said she was "surprised" by Duckworth’s comments, but she also believed them to be a "natural progression" of identity politics.

"So if you have someone that happens to be qualified that is a white straight person, who on paper has more experience in whatever field they’re being nominated for than a minority with less experience," McCain said. "Are we now in a place where this matters?"

Fox News' Edmund DeMarche contributed to this report.