Appearing on Fox Business Network’s Varney & Company Wednesday morning, Media Research Center President Brent Bozell sympathized with former View co-host Meghan McCain having to deal with a “toxic work environment” at the ABC talk show simply for expressing conservative views. Bozell noted that it “must have been hell on Earth” for the political pundit to be relentlessly and personally attacked by her left-wing co-hosts.
“Meghan McCain spoke to Sean Hannity about why she left what she describes as the toxic work environment at The View,” host Stuart Varney pointed out at the top of the segment. A clip ran of McCain telling Hannity on Tuesday night: “You are a target if you’re the token conservative and you are treated differently....And it’s all very personal....I felt like the toxicity got worse and worse.”
Varney wondered: “Do you think ABC will make any changes, Brent?” Bozell replied: “No. This is the culture of ABC....They made Meghan McCain...they said she was the token conservative and they opened up on her.” Citing a litany of specific examples over the years, Bozell described the hostility McCain had to deal with on a daily basis:
Look, these are supposed to be discussions, or at most, debates. They weren’t. They were assaults on Meghan McCain. Even worse than that, they were personal attacks that were consistently – constantly hurled out. Like Whoopi Goldberg. She compared trump to Mengele and to the KKK. Whoopi Goldberg, remember that famous statement she made about Michael Pence that his Christianity was a mental disease. The attacks on pro-lifers, where she went after them, calling them the Taliban in Texas. These were the kinds of vicious ad homonyms that Meghan McCain had to put up with.
He highlighted how she never sank to their level: “So in a debate, she had one arm tied behind her back because they were hurling personal insults at her and she’s got enough class not to respond that way. And she didn’t.” Bozell concluded: “I don’t care how much they paid her, it must have been hell on Earth for her to be backstage dealing with these people.”
Next, Varney asked if the leftist media honeymoon with President Biden was “either over or certainly winding down.” Bozell cautioned:
Not quite. Not yet. I think there are some stories because they can’t avoid it. Afghanistan, they couldn’t avoid it. The statement that he made about $3.5 trillion costing zero. These are horrific developments. But look, it is quantity and quality that we’re talking about here. Let’s talk about quantity for a second. Fox News is either making up situations or it’s reporting the truth. Every single night there seems to be a new development with this assault on America from immigration, where hundreds of thousands, maybe we’re in the millions now, are coming across the border illegally with one twist and turn after another. You won’t see that reported. It might be one story on a network and it’s done. That is what they’re doing.
Here is a full transcript of the October 20 segment:
10:33 AM ET
STUART VARNEY: Meghan McCain spoke to Sean Hannity about why she left what she describes as the toxic work environment at The View. Roll tape.
MEGHAN MCCAIN: You are a target if you’re the token conservative and you are treated differently. And it’s been interesting having my book excerpt released today because people just really don’t seem to be surprised at all. And it’s all very personal. That’s the thing, is that being a conservative women in mainstream media is deeply threatening. I felt like the toxicity got worse and worse. I actually felt like the more successful I was on The View and the more moments I helped get them, and the more I pressed liberal candidates and liberal guests on the show, the worse it got for me backstage.
VARNEY: You know, that is a real challenge in today’s environment. Brent Bozell joins us. It’s a challenge to ABC. Do you think ABC will make any changes, Brent?
BRENT BOZELL: No. This is the culture of ABC. It’s interesting, Meghan McCain is not a conservative. She’s a token conservative, so far as ABC is concerned. Her predecessor, Nicolle Wallace, was a liberal, who’s now at MSNBC. Elizabeth Hasselbeck was the last true conservative. But in a way, it doesn’t make any difference at all. They made Meghan McCain – Meghan, they said she was the token conservative and they opened up on her.
Look, these are supposed to be discussions, or at most, debates. They weren’t. They were assaults on Meghan McCain. Even worse than that, they were personal attacks that were consistently – constantly hurled out. Like Whoopi Goldberg. She compared trump to Mengele and to the KKK. Whoopi Goldberg, remember that famous statement she made about Michael Pence that his Christianity was a mental disease. The attacks on pro-lifers, where she went after them, calling them the Taliban in Texas. These were the kinds of vicious ad homonyms that Meghan McCain had to put up with.
So in a debate, she had one arm tied behind her back because they were hurling personal insults at her and she’s got enough class not to respond that way. And she didn’t. So it must – I don’t care how much they paid her, it must have been hell on Earth for her to be backstage dealing with these people.
VARNEY: They’re not gonna change. Next case, Brent. Liberal media seems to be turning on President Biden. MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle called out the President’s claims about his Build Back Better, the plan that is supposed to cost zero dollars. She called it out. We’ve spoken about this before, Brent. Is it correct to say that Biden’s honeymoon with the media is either over or certainly winding down?
BOZELL: Not quite. Not yet. I think there are some stories because they can’t avoid it. Afghanistan, they couldn’t avoid it. The statement that he made about $3.5 trillion costing zero. These are horrific developments. But look, it is quantity and quality that we’re talking about here. Let’s talk about quantity for a second. Fox News is either making up situations or it’s reporting the truth. Every single night there seems to be a new development with this assault on America from immigration, where hundreds of thousands, maybe we’re in the millions now, are coming across the border illegally with one twist and turn after another. You won’t see that reported. It might be one story on a network and it’s done. That is what they’re doing.
What about all the stories on inflation? Notice who’s not complaining? The Biden administration is not complaining about the media. Here’s an interesting tidbit. By this time in his presidency, Donald Trump had done 50 one-on-one interviews with media that hated him. With Obama, it was over a hundred. Do you know how many Biden has done? 10. And when he does a press conference, he doesn’t take questions from the press. He leaves.
So Biden is not complaining that much. He knows they could be much, much tougher. And they know they could be much, much tougher and simply reporting the truth. So either they are not doing a good job or Fox News is not doing a good job. Either they are not covering it correctly or Fox News is not covering it correctly. Fox News is covering it correctly.
VARNEY: Thank you, Brent. I’m glad you got to that in the end. Brent Bozell, good stuff. See you again soon, Brent. Thanks very much, sir.
BOZELL: Thank you.
