The View host Meghan McCain seemed pretty uncomfortable by the end of her contentious appearance on NBC’s Late Night on Tuesday night. But for the most part, she was able to keep things cordial with host Seth Meyers.
Then, a few hours later, early Wednesday morning, her husband shared his unfiltered thoughts about the interview on Twitter.
In a series of since-deleted tweets, Ben Domenech, the founder and publisher of conservative website The Federalist, went on an unhinged rant against the late-night host and former head writer for Saturday Night Live that was at times homophobic and at other times suggested that Meyers has only succeeded in comedy because he is a white man.
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“I see that @sethmeyers, the untalented piece of shit who only has his job because he regularly gargled Lorne Michaels’ balls, went after my wife tonight with his idiotic anti-Semitic bullshit,” Domenech wrote.
He was referring to the most tense section of McCain’s interview with Meyers, in which the host called the comments she had made about Rep. Ilhan Omar’s supposed anti-Semitism “dangerous.”
“I stand by every single thing I’ve said, and if that makes me unpopular in this room or in front of you, so be it,” McCain defiantly said, as Meyers attempted to defuse the tension by finding “common ground.”
By the end of the 11-minute sit-down, McCain was accusing Meyers of treating her unfairly and he was insisting that he was just trying to understand her point of view. “I’m perfectly happy with everything that’s coming out of your mouth, and I like that we spent this time together,” he told her.
“Seth is an awful person who is known within the industry for how terrible he is,” Domenech baselessly tweeted. “He is a monumental asshole who is utterly unfunny. He deserves the mockery he receives from all the people who laugh at him.”
“Here is proof that white men get ahead despite their obvious lack of talent,” he continued. “It’s @sethmeyers, who would beg for a third of the viewers at @TheView. He’s awful, untalented, and a perfect definition of a cuck,” he added, referring to a popular far-right pejorative.
And then: “But the best thing is how much all the people around @sethmeyers talk about what a shitty person he is. Because oh, it is sad. So terrible. But he deserves all of it.”
Reached for comment, Domenech declined to either defend or disavow his comments and instead attacked The Daily Beast, writing via email: “We don’t give comments to places that publish Cheri Jacobus.” He was referring to a former GOP consultant who has penned one opinion piece for this website.
He had more to say when asked for clarification on his comments by Mediaite. “Seth Meyers is trash,” Domenech said. “I believe this steadfastly and have for years. He only has his job because of sucking up to the right people. He is an untalented hack. My reference was obviously metaphorical and that’s it.”
Subsequently, Domenech posted on apology on Twitter for “rage-tweeting” while again calling Meyers a “hack.”
The irony of Domenech “joking” that Meyers “regularly gargled Lorne Michaels’ balls” is that earlier this year The Federalist fired columnist D.C. McAllister for making homophobic comments to reporter Yashar Ali. “A gay man commenting on a heterosexual relationship is just. Sad. Pathetic really.” she tweeted. “I think @yashar has a crush on me. Maybe I’m making him doubt his love of penis.”
“In response to your many inquiries, we’ve spoken and Denise McAllister will not be writing for us at The Federalist any more,” Domenech tweeted at the time.
It’s remarkable that her tweets were deemed too homophobic for a website that has recently published articles with headlines like “Pedophilia isn’t the Main Problem with Catholic Priests, Homosexuality Is” and “Christianity Can’t Be Stretched to Endorse Homosexuality.”
Last month, Meghan McCain was awarded the Harvey Milk Foundation’s Lilla Watson Medal for “living authentically and advancing inclusiveness.” As she said on The View the day after the ceremony, “I wanted to make sure they wanted to give me this award because I am a straight, cisgender, conservative woman” before explaining that her “activism with the LGBT community goes back more than a decade.”
