‘The View’s’ Meghan McCain Defends Spike Lee After Trump’s ‘Racist Hit’

Meghan McCain admitted on Monday morning that she fell asleep during the Oscars.

“I fell asleep and I asked permission for me to say that on the air,” she said on The View, which, like the Academy Awards, airs on ABC, “because I don’t know what’s like socially acceptable.”  

Besides enjoying the opening number from Adam Lambert and Queen, there was one other moment that caught her attention. It happened to be one of the most political moments of the night when BlacKkKlansman director Spike Lee used his acceptance speech to call for change in 2020.

“The 2020 presidential election is around the corner. Let’s all mobilize,” Lee said, accepting his first-ever competitive Oscar. “Let’s all be in the right side of history. Make the moral choice between love versus hate. Let’s do the right thing!”

Though he didn’t mention Trump by name, that line drew a condemnation from the president on Twitter early Monday morning. “Be nice if Spike Lee could read his notes, or better yet not have to use notes at all,” he tweeted, “when doing his racist hit on your President, who has done more for African Americans (Criminal Justice Reform, Lowest Unemployment numbers in History, Tax Cuts,etc.) than almost any other Pres!”

“Does that include Abraham Lincoln?” Joy Behar asked before Sunny Hostin rightly wondered why Lee’s comments would be considered a “racist hit.”

“If the shoe fits and you think every little remark about you is racist, maybe you ought to look in the mirror,” Behar said.

But the strongest defense of Lee came from McCain, who said she found both his fashion choices and political statements “refreshing.”

“I’m on a different side than he is politically, but I like people taking time when they have a moment,” she said. “I’m not one of these people that's like everybody in Hollywood should shut the blank up. I actually think we have a reality show president, he's using his name this way and I don't understand what the problem is and I wish the Oscars and all awards shows lean into it a little bit. These are tumultuous times and we are in a pool that we say controversial things all the time. It’s not so bad, life does go on and it's OK for people to speak their truth when they get an award.”

Her conservative counterpart Abby Huntsman similarly advised Trump not go after Spike Lee, adding, “That’s not going to end well.”

But Behar got the last word, urging viewers to “Google ‘Central Park Five’ in case you're wondering if Trump is a racist.”