'Leave him alone': Meghan McCain defends Nick Jonas amid backlash for magazine cover

Meghan McCain is fired up over backlash Nick Jonas received for posing with a cigar on the cover of a magazine.

“Well I put a picture of myself smoking a cigar up, like a week ago…" McCain told her fellow "View" co-hosts Wednesday, "and people really have a problem with people smoking cigars..."

On Sept. 5, she shared a photo of herself in a low, wide-brimmed hat with a cigar to her lips to Instagram. While not all comments were negative, some wrote about McCain's smoking. "Do you know that smoking cigars can give you throat cancer? It's not becoming, Meghan!" one remark read.

But the conservative isn't here for people's criticisms.

"I’m a grown ass woman, he’s a grown ass man,” she justified Wednesday. “And I’m sorry, am I supposed to give up all vices, all the time anymore? No one’s ever allowed to do any – no drinking, no smoking cigars, no fun?"

She added: "Leave him alone, he’s married to Priyanka Chopra, living his best life.”

While Sunny Hostin agreed with her co-host, Joy Behar voiced her opposition. “Here’s the thing about cigars: Cigars are disgusting to be around. They’re disgusting.”

“No, they’re not,” McCain interrupted.

“They pollute the air around you,” said Behar.

“It’s very relaxing,” McCain said.

“It’s disgusting,” Behar shot back.

Whoopi Goldberg also offered her two cents, suggesting the haters evaluate their own lives. “As a matter of fact, everyone who’s watching this thing (saying), ‘He shouldn’t be doing this,’ what are you doing?" she asked. "How are you living, where are you at? Just let us all make our mistakes and we’ll come together and figure it out.”

The youngest Jonas Brother took to Twitter Monday to proudly share his smokin' new magazine cover for Cigar Aficionado, which hits stands Sept. 24. The cover features Jonas holding a cigar, while other pictures show him lighting one and taking a puff.

"First person under 30 to hold a cigar on the cover of one of my favorite magazines," Jonas tweeted. "So pumped about this one! Thank you @CigarAficMag!"

But, Jonas' exciting personal feat was met with backlash from his fans, who begged the "Jealous" singer to consider the health risks associated with smoking. According to the National Cancer Institute, cigar smoke "contains toxic and cancer-causing chemicals that are harmful to both smokers and nonsmokers."

'We love Thick Nick': Fans praise Nick Jonas' 'dad bod,' shut down body-shaming

"Hey man u look good but i don't really wanna see u die soon," @hesitatelovebug wrote, while @TanzimXX said, "Cancer is approaching but anyways u look hot."

User @yasiruvismini_ added: "This ain't my business. your lungs, def not mine. but 'smoking cigar' or 'holding a cigar for your fav mag cover' ain't something to be proud of."

Other fans slammed Jonas for using his influential platform to promote a dangerous activity, such as smoking cigars.

"I love you but smoking kills and it’d be smarter from you to not promote such a thing and make it look cool, cus it’s not," @Solanaa wrote, while @michelle_lynn tweeted: "Gross and irresponsible as a singer and a human raised knowing the health risks but okay."

User @alannaaa1 added: "Disgusting and disappointing."

Some fans pointed out the singer's type 1 diabetes diagnosis in 2005. "If you’re diabetic it’s especially bad to introduce additional risks to cardiac health," @winklevosss wrote.

Jonas hasn't responded to the backlash, but his wife, Priyanka Chopra, appears to approve. She commented under his Instagram picture, "Yummy!"

USA TODAY reached out to Jonas' rep for comment.

See our full coverage of entertainment news

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'The View': Nick Jonas defended by Meghan McCain amid uproar over cigar