Joy Behar spars with Meghan McCain: ‘I did not miss you’ while you were on maternity leave

“The View” co-hosts Joy Behar and Meghan McCain got into a shouting match that turned personal on Tuesday over which party is in a stronger position heading into the new year. 

“Let the Republicans fight amongst themselves. On the one hand you have the Republicans, on the other you have the seditionists,” Behar said in an apparent reference to GOP efforts to overturn the results of the November election. “On the Democrats, you have the progressives versus the moderates, which is de rigueur as they say, it’s what it always is. … The Republicans are in much more trouble right now.” 

McCain, the lone conservative voice on the program, shot back at Behar, asking: “Are you kidding me?”

“You have AOC,” McCain said, referring to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), “fighting about whether or not she’s going to end up primarying [Senate Minority Leader] Chuck Schumer … You have ‘the squad’ that’s coming out very angry that [President-elect Joe] Biden hasn’t filled his Cabinet with more progressives,” she added, rejecting “the idea that there isn’t fighting within the Democratic Party as well.” 

Behar interrupted McCain, saying, “I’m talking about traitors.”  

McCain joked: “You missed my so much, Joy. You missed me so much when I was on maternity leave. You missed me so much — you missed fighting with me.” 

“I did not,” Behar replied. “I did not miss you. Zero.” 

Co-host Whoopi Goldberg attempted to regain control of the conversation, asking “somebody” on the five-woman panel to “answer the question.” 

McCain continued: “Ya know what, that was nasty. That was so nasty. I was teasing because you said something rude. That’s so rude.” 

.@JoyVBehar tells @MeghanMcCain: “I did not miss you” while you were off on maternity leave. “Zero!” pic.twitter.com/4D2IDWrF7k

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) January 5, 2021

McCain returned to “The View” this week after three months off on maternity leave following the birth of her daughter Liberty. 

The day before, the daughter of the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) advocated for mandatory paid maternity leave, saying she learned from the experience of mothering a child as a working woman.  

“This is something that’s a really dark spot for our country,” McCain said. “We as conservatives have to come together and allow all women in this country, no matter where they’re from or their socioeconomic class, the capacity to have what I just had, which is three months of bonding time and breastfeeding and healing.” 

Ocasio-Cortez earlier this week did not rule out challenging Schumer, a fellow New York Democrat, in 2022. 

“I’m not playing coy or anything like that. I’m still very much in a place where I’m trying to decide what is the most effective thing I can do to help our Congress, our [political] process, and our country actually address the issues of climate change, health care, wage inequality, etc.,” she said in an interview.