Meghan McCain and Joy Behar Face Off on Guns at Coronavirus Protests: “Terrorists” or “Perfectly Legal”?

Even from miles away, Meghan McCain and Joy Behar remain committed to their on-air feud. Monday morning on The View, Behar and McCain found themselves on opposing sides during a discussion about lockdown protestors bringing guns to rallies. While the liberal Behar argued that it’s only “terrorists who bring guns” to rallies, her conservative co-host defended protestors’ right to bear arms. “It’s perfectly normal to me,” said McCain. “And it’s perfectly legal in the states that they did it in.”

This morning, The View opened its show with a discussion of protests in multiple states, including Kentucky, Michigan, and North Carolina, against governors’ stay-at-home orders. “What is going on out there?” asked longtime moderator Whoopi Goldberg. “What is happening?”

Behar slammed the protestors and asked why they seem unconcerned that they could be spreading the novel coronavirus to one another at rallies. “To paraphrase Patrick Henry, ‘Give me liberty and give me death’ is what they’re basically proposing,” she joked. “A lot of people are going to die because of this behavior.” She added that protestors “are being egged on by right-wing media,” including InfoWars’ Alex Jones and conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh.

“And why are you bringing guns to a rally?” continued Behar. “If you want to call yourself protestors, leave your guns home.”

Sunny Hostin agreed, suggesting that President Trump’s tweets about “liberating” states are encouraging an “insurrection.” Said Hostin, “I think the argument can be made that he’s inciting violence by these tweets. He’s inciting government insurrection … I’m just shocked that we have the president of the United States inciting this kind of behavior.”

Of course, McCain felt differently. While she said that she’s “split” on whether we should lift stay-at-home restrictions in order to help the economy, she understands why many protestors brought guns to their state rallies. “I understand that, for a lot of people watching this show, that may seem very foreign and it may seem violent,” said the self-proclaimed NRA member. “It’s a culture symbol. Anyone who’s bringing a gun to a rally is obviously showing which side of the gun argument they’re on, which is an argument that’s being brought up in these kinds of protests.”

McCain went on to compare the situation to the “learn to code controversy” between politicians and coal miners. “We are all lucky and need to check our privilege that we can work from home from the computer and are all gainfully employed,” said the conservative co-host. “There are a lot of people in this country who are in pain or out of work or losing their homes, and I think when people are scared or in pain, they start to panic.”

“There seems to be a culture war between people in the middle of the country and people on the coasts,” continued McCain. “I’ve seen media figures complaining and talking about their fear. And again, even for me — check your privilege.”

Watch The View‘s gun discussion in the clip above.

Where to stream The View