Meghan McCain Laments the GOP's Liz Cheney Ouster: 'My Generation of Leadership is Failing Us'

Just hours after the GOP voted to remove Rep. Liz Cheney from her leadership role, the women of The View took the stage to discuss the new development and its implication on the party's future. The hosts were united in their praise of Cheney, who repeatedly refused to bow to Trump and the "big lie" faction of her party. Unsurprisingly, it was Meghan McCain who spoke with the most emotion as she lamented the rise of Rep. Elise Stefanik, a fellow millennial who is "quadrupling down" on her support of Trump. "That's what's most disappointing to me in all of this," said McCain. "My generation of leadership is also failing us."

For the past few weeks, McCain has been clear about her support for Cheney, but she was visibly subdued on Wednesday morning while discussing what is likely the final chapter of the congresswoman's feud with her party. "I'm having a hard time with this because we've been talking about this for over a week now, and what we all thought was going to happen ended up happening," she said. "She's being replaced by Elise Stefanik, who, by the way, Liz Cheney has a 78% rating from the American Conservative Union, and Elise Stefanik has a 44% rating."

McCain explained that six years ago, she and Stefanik were both included in Elle Magazine's "30 Under 30" list, and she was incredibly enamored of the up-and-coming congresswoman. "I can remember thinking, 'Oh my god, she's so impressive. This is so exciting,'" she recalled. "And being like, 'Oh my gosh, She is the future. I'm so excited. I love conservative women supporting other conservative women.'"

.@MeghanMcCain: “Liz Cheney is fighting for what I believe to be the future of the party and Elise Stefanik, a woman who is a millennial ... is doubling, tripling, quadrupling down at the altar of Trump-ism — I think that’s what’s most disappointing to me.” pic.twitter.com/Scq8DxTl74

— The View (@TheView) May 12, 2021

"To see this turn where a woman who's generations older than me, Liz Cheney, is fighting for what I believe to be the future of the party, and Elise Stefanik, a woman who is a millennial and is my age, is doubling, tripling, quadrupling down at the altar of Trumpism" is incredibly "disappointing," said McCain, before noting that the Republican party is "bleeding millennials."

"The idea that a millennial woman would know that and double down in this way, I don't understand it," complained the conservative co-host. "But I know that power is the ultimate aphrodisiac. It is the ultimate anecdote. It's the opiate of the masses. People in D.C., it is their heroin. And apparently, power for some people is better than being able to sleep at night with what you believe and actually think."

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