Meghan McCain suggests Fox Christmas tree arson attack is worse than GOP's assault on democracy

“I don’t want to hear anything about how radical some of you believe republicans to be," McCain said on Wednesday

By Jon Skolnik

Staff Writer

Published December 8, 2021 12:47PM (EST)

Meghan McCain attends The Algemeiner's 8th annual J100 Gala on October 12, 2021 in Rockleigh, New Jersey. (Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)
Meghan McCain attends The Algemeiner's 8th annual J100 Gala on October 12, 2021 in Rockleigh, New Jersey. (Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)

Meghan McCain, a former host of ABC's long-running talk show "The View," is getting raked through the mud over a now-deleted Wednesday tweet comparing the GOP's right-wing extremism to "lunatics" who allegedly set Fox News' Christmas tree on fire. 

"I don't want to hear anything about how radical some of you believe republicans to be when there are lunatics running around New York City setting Fox News Christmas tree on fire," McCain tweeted.

On Wednesday, a 49-year-old man was taken into custody by the NYPD on suspicion of committing what the network called a "malicious" attack against its Christmas tree, just outside the News Corp. building in downtown Manhattan. The man was first spotted climbing the tree minutes after midnight, and shortly fled the scene before being apprehended by police authorities. The fire was quickly put out by firefighters, leaving the tree only partially scorched. According to NBC News, the man stands charged of "criminal mischief, reckless endangerment, arson, criminal nuisance endangering others, criminal trespass, criminal tampering and disorderly conduct."

The channel called the apparent arson a "brazen act of cowardice," saying that it would replace the tree with a newer one "as a message that there can be peace, light and joy even during a dark moment like this."


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McCain, a former Fox News contributor herself, was immediately panned for appearing to prioritize a relatively small local arson to the problematic behavior of an entire political party. 

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"That's right, nobody can talk about 'white supremacy' or 'attempted coups' because of a minor property crime in midtown manhattan," Bobby Lewis, a writer at Media Matters, subtweeted to McCain on Wednesday, later adding: "lmao she deleted it."

"'I don't want to hear about Congressmen who attempted a coup and post murder fantasy videos about other members of Congress because a tree was burning,'" user Devin Duke echoed, mocking McCain's perspective. "Meghan McCain is quite possibly the most dense person with a voice in politics."

Journalist Victoria Brownworth also joined the chorus, saying that "you have to wonder how the women of #TheView could stand this."

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It isn't the first time that McCain has aired out her grievances over the left's alleged crusade against Christmas. 

Back in 2018, the conservative commentator declared a "War on Christmas," backing remarks Trump made during a campaign rally about the left's alleged attack on saying "Merry Christmas."

"I think I'm a christian and I celebrate Christmas," McCain said in an interview. "And I'd like to wish a Merry Christmas to everyone."


By Jon Skolnik

Jon Skolnik is a staff writer at Salon. His work has appeared in Current Affairs, The Baffler, and The New York Daily News.

MORE FROM Jon Skolnik


Related Topics ------------------------------------------

Brief Christmas Tree Fire Fox News Meghan Mccain Twitter War On Christmas