Meghan McCain is at it again. This time, it isn’t the internet or even her co-stars from The View she’s in battle with — it’s members of the progressive freshman in Congress known as the Squad. After McCain criticized Bernie Sanders’ supporters for being “abusive” online, freshman Representatives Ilhan Omar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had words for McCain.
During Wednesday night’s Democratic debate in Nevada, questions arose about how Sanders’ supporters discuss politics online. Sanders responded, saying that, “If there are a few people who make ugly remarks…I disown those people, they are not part of our movement.” He also noted that he has more than 10.6 million followers on Twitter and that 99.9% of them are good people. McCain, however, begged to differ and shared her feelings on her own platform.
“Bernie — your army of Bernie bros are the worst in all of the internet and every woman on both sides knows it. Mysoginistic, abusive and inspired by you.” McCain tweeted during the debate. Responding to McCain’s commentary on “Bernie bros,” Ilhan Omar fired back with a tweet of her own. “The same people who chastise the progressive movement regularly traffic in anti-Muslim smears and hate speech against me and those I represent. It’s almost as if they don’t genuinely care about online harassment,”
Omar tweeted on Thursday with screenshots of what McCain said. Omar also included a screenshot where McCain retweeted a story about Omar allegedly marrying her own brother for “papers” to keep him in the U.S. McCain has since deleted that tweet.
The same people who chastise the progressive movement regularly traffic in anti-Muslim smears and hate speech against me and those I represent.
It’s almost as if they don’t genuinely care about online harassment.
🤔 pic.twitter.com/jZKgYvjDl6— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) February 20, 2020
This is not the first time that McCain has gone head-to-head with Omar, either. She appeared on Late Night With Seth Meyers in 2019 talking about her criticism of freshman congresswoman.
And, McCain’s feud against “Bernies bros” didn’t stop there. On Wednesday, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez appeared on The View with McCain and contested with her and Whoopi Goldberg. During their conversation, McCain and Goldberg asked Ocasio-Cortez to address “misogynistic” Sanders supporters online and demanded that AOC denounce them. “You’re an extremely powerful woman,” McCain said of Ocasio-Cortez, asking why she doesn’t do more to “control” Sanders’ supporters.
The congresswoman, who’s been fiercely advocating for Sanders over the years and has been helping him campaign during the 2020 election cycle, responded that it would be difficult for the campaign to control anonymous attacks online. “We have to always reject hate, reject vitriol, and denounce that kind of behavior,” she explained.
McCain is no stranger to inciting political controversy, so much so that there have even been rumors of her departure from The View. But, it looks like there will always be pushback from Democrats like Ilhan Omar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who aim to hold her accountable for specific narratives she may create online.
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