Meghan McCain apologized on Monday after John Oliver singled out past remarks she made on The View in a Last Week Tonight segment on anti-Asian violence and the shootings in Atlanta.
“I condemn the reprehensible violence and vitriol that has been targeted towards the Asian-American community,” The View co-host said in a tweet after the Sunday episode of Oliver’s HBO show excerpted her past comments. “There is no doubt Donald Trump’s racist rhetoric fueled many of these attacks and I apologize for any past comments that aided that agenda.”
On Sunday’s Last Week Tonight, Oliver pointed out that McCain once said she didn’t “have a problem with people calling [COVID-19] whatever they want” after Trump called COVID “the China virus” in 2020, prompting concerns that the term would lead to an uptick in anti-Asian sentiment. McCain added at the time, “It’s a deadly virus that did originate in Wuhan. I don’t have a problem with it.”
Oliver said in response, “Oh good, Meghan McCain doesn’t have a problem with it. Listen not to the scores of Asian Americans telling everyone that the term is dangerous and offensive. Instead, gather round and take the word of a wealthy white woman who’s dressed like she’s about to lay off 47 people over Zoom.”
In recent days before the Last Week Tonight segment, McCain tweeted “Stop Asian Hate” and condemned how Atlanta police were “giving cover” to the shooter who killed eight people, six of them Asian women, by saying he had a “bad day.”
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