The claws are out. Meghan McCain slammed Elisabeth Hasselbeck for her “dangerous” statement about praying away the novel coronavirus amid the global outbreak.
The 35-year-old Arizona native opened up about the 42-year-old former View cohost’s controversial comments during a recent appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen — and didn’t hold back when expressing her disappointment.
“I took this virus seriously from the beginning and I thought a lot of this rhetoric was really dangerous,” McCain told host Andy Cohen. “I think it’s really, really unfortunate and dangerous that she said that. I don’t need to cohost with her again and it’s unfortunate because I’ve been a huge fan for a long time.”
The Columbia University grad added that she doesn’t “have a lot of time” for “anybody who’s screwing around with this virus and putting out misinformation” amid the devastating pandemic. McCain previously called out the way Hasselbeck discussed the coronavirus on The View in March, weeks after the retired TV personality praised President Trump for his “early, strong, bold” response to the outbreak.
“There can be a fine line between what is taking precaution and what is panic,” Hasselbeck said when she returned to The View in March. “Yes, we’re going to take precautions, we’re going to Purell, pray that God’s got us in our tomorrows, right? We pray that this coronavirus is extinguished, that it’s stopped in its tracks. … I think we should prepare. I think we should pray. I’m not going to let coronavirus rule me!”
Hasselbeck isn’t the only celebrity who’s been criticized for their insensitive reactions to the COVID-19 crisis. Earlier this month, Roseanne Barr said that the pandemic was an attempt “to get rid of” her generation. More recently, Dr. Phil McGraw was forced to apologize for comparing coronavirus deaths to deaths caused by swimming pools, cigarettes or car accidents.
“Last night I said we as a society have chosen to live with certain controllable deadly risk every day, smoking, auto crashes, swimming and, yes, I know that those are not contagious, so probably bad examples,” the 69-year-old TV host said on April 17. “If you didn’t like my choice of words, I apologize for that.”
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