Meghan McCain Finds a Way to Ding Biden For Lifting Mask Mandate: 'This Has Always Been Political'

Leave it to Meghan McCain, who has spent the past few weeks complaining about having to wear a mask outside, to find a way to drag President Biden for lifting the mask mandate for vaccinated Americans. On Friday, The View co-host insisted that the Biden administration reversed course on masks in order to deflect from the inflation and unemployment numbers that were released earlier this month. "This has always been political. It continues to be political," said McCain. "The administration saw that less people were going to work, people were still feeling hesitant about the virus, people were still getting their stimulus money and staying home."

McCain began her monologue by noting that she was "very happy yesterday" when the CDC announced that vaccinated Americans no longer need to wear masks in most circumstances, but it didn't take long for her mood to sour. "The question I had yesterday is: what was the magic threshold for the CDC?" she said. "Last week, I had to wear a mask doing anything, double-mask, triple-mask, even mask in the shower. And now, all of the sudden, it's fine, everything's fine. I don't have to wear a mask in the office any more."

"What I think happened, cynically, is that we saw the inflation and unemployment numbers come out," continued McCain. "The Biden administration is smart enough to realize that people have to go back to work."

CDC EASES MASK GUIDELINES: The CDC has amended its guidance for fully vaccinated Americans, no longer recommending masks indoors or outdoors — the co-hosts react and discuss if they’re comfortable unmasking. https://t.co/IbylKmCFIT pic.twitter.com/efhebAosw2

— The View (@TheView) May 14, 2021

The conservative noted that she's "not the only one skeptical of this" announcement, as a recent Harvard poll said that "only 52% of Americans have trust in the CDC, and 37% of the American public have trust in other agencies" in the wake of the pandemic. "My fear is that if another virus comes, if there's an Ebola outbreak in the country, there are going to be a lot of people who are skeptical of our institutions and our media," she said. "I just worry that we have gone down a path that is going to be hard to come back from because I'm one of the people who doesn't trust what's coming out of the CDC and the White House any more."

But that wasn't all McCain had to say about the easing of COVID-19 restrictions. When Joy Behar said that Americans should be able to prove their vaccination status by wearing a bracelet or "putting it on your drivers' license," McCain rolled her eyes, and when it was her turn to speak, she took aim at the "slippery slope" of requiring proof of vaccination. "From a legal standpoint, there's a lot of civil liberties issues here. If the government is going to mandate that you have to get this vaccination, that's a very, very slippery slope," she said. "I'm very contrarian by nature. I question the government at every single move. So, even though I have been vaccinated, I would have a very, very hard time with that being mandated nationally to do things."

People are talking about The View in our forums. Join the conversation.

Claire Spellberg Lustig is the Senior Editor at Primetimer and a scholar of The View. Follow her on Twitter at @c_spellberg.