Meghan McCain and Seth Meyers have heated exchange over Ilhan Omar: 'Are you her publicist?'

Suzy Byrne
·Editor, Yahoo Entertainment
Updated

Meghan McCain’s sit-down on Tuesday’s Late Night With Seth Meyers got heated when Seth Meyers brought up her recent comments about Rep. Ilhan Omar — and now her husband is speaking out against the “hack” late-night host.

Referencing McCain’s This Week With George Stephanopoulos interview last month (The View host attempted to connect the San Diego synagogue shooting to comments Omar made that were criticized for being anti-Semitic and for which she apologized), Meyers asked if McCain stood by what she said. He also asked if she thought people need to be careful when discussing Omar, one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress, who has been the recipient of death threats.

“You ... brought up her tweets again in the context of that shooting,” Meyers said. “I do think it’s fairly dangerous and you brought it up after Congresswoman Omar had also had some death threats against her. She’s obviously now stated she needs to be more careful with her language. Don’t you think people who talk about her need to be a little bit more thoughtful as well? Or do you stand by those comments of tying her rhetoric to the synagogue shooting?”

“I don’t think I tied her to it in particular,” McCain replied. “I think that I’m calling out what I see as anti-Semitic language.”

Meyers interrupted, “But you called it out after she’d apologized for it. I do want to establish the timeline.”

Meghan McCain's interview with Seth Meyers became heated — and her husband even weighed in on the "hack" late-night host. (Photo: Lloyd Bishop/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank)
Meghan McCain's interview with Seth Meyers became heated — and her husband even weighed in on the "hack" late-night host. (Photo: Lloyd Bishop/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank)

McCain replied, “I think the Democrats are hedging on this, and I think it’s very dangerous, and I think Chuck Schumer and I are in alignment about Israel’s stance in geopolitical politics — I think it’s of the utmost importance — and I think she is bringing her party to the extreme, to the extremism on this.” She said anti-semitism is prevalent in European politics — specifically Britain — “and I see it happening over there and I worry about it happening here.”

She added defiantly, “I stand by every single thing I’ve said, and if that makes me unpopular in this room or in front of you, so be it.”

McCain asked Meyers if he was bothered by Omar’s comments about Sept. 11, which some though minimized the attacks. He said he thought it was “taken out of context” if “you watched the whole speech.”

McCain shot back, “Would you give President Trump the same leverage if he had said the same thing?”

Meyers answered, “Well, I would say that Donald Trump is certainly in no position to criticize her language on 9/11 based on the things that he’s said about 9/11, right?” He continued, “Let me make the clarification between Donald Trump and Ilhan Omar, is one of them has apologized and said they’re gonna try to do better and they’re going to be educated by people who know about this, that’s what she said. It’s an interesting thing when we have two Muslim women for the first time [in Congress], they do have a different perspective on things, and when we talk about ‘let’s try to meet in the middle on things,’ we have to listen to other people’s perspectives.”

When McCain again cited Omar’s comments in the tweets she apologized for, Meyers said it was “unfair” and she snapped, “Are you her publicist? Are you her press person?”

Meyers replied that he is “just someone who cares about the fact that there’s someone out there who is in a minority who has had death threats against her.”

McCain asked the host what could she say that would make him happy. “I'm generally curious,” she said. She reminded Meyers that her opinions were very strong — and he replied, “That is coming across."

McCain clearly arrived home miffed by the whole thing because her husband, writer Ben Domenech, blasted Meyers for the interview. “Here is proof that white men get ahead despite their obvious lack of talent,” he tweeted. “It’s @sethmeyers, who would beg for a third of the viewers at @TheView. He’s awful, untalented, and a perfect definition of a cuck.”

Warning: Some of Domenech’s comments are NSFW.

While Domenech deleted the posts, he remained set in his sentiment. He told Mediaite, “Seth Meyers is trash. I believe this steadfastly and have for years. He only has his job because of sucking up to the right people. He is an untalented hack. My reference was obviously metaphorical and that’s it.”

He replaced his tweets with a comment apologizing for his “rage tweeting,” but called Meyers a “hack.”

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